Four takeaways from the Wizards’ opening night loss to the Celtics

He finished with 26 points, hitting 6 of 11 from three. Poole seemed to improve defensively on and off the ball, racking up four steals that tied his career high.

Poole can initiate the offense as a point guard, but he seemed more comfortable with the green light scoring. That first quarter was reminiscent of his days with the Golden State Warriors. Hopefully, he will continue to be a threat, scoring the ball and opening up his teammates.

Ball movement in attack improved significantly

On offense, the Wizards moved the ball a lot and found a lot of open looks in the paint. In the second quarter they came out of a timeout and went up 15-8. Scoring most of his points thanks to excellent ball movement and finishing in the paint.

In transition they got the ball out very quickly, to get many good open shots.

Despite not having any success in the second half putting the ball in the basket, the Wizards continued to move the ball. They just couldn’t execute possessions.

The Wizards had big problems on defense

The Celtics exploited the Wizards on screens. The Wizards couldn’t fight off picks and their defensive rotation wasn’t fast enough to generate strong competition. The screens freed up the Celtics so all three could watch openly. The Celtics made 17 three-pointers, many of which were open.

The Wizards’ slow rotations out of traps also hurt the defense.

Jayson Tatum also carved up the Wizards defense and got all the looks he wanted. The Celtics leader finished with 26 points. His All-Star teammate, Jaylen Brown, finished with 25 points.

Tatum and Brown caught the Wizards’ attention on defense. Washington couldn’t keep either man at bay, leading to some great looks from his teammates. The Celtics thrived by driving down the lane, forcing Washington to collapse.

Despite showing great effort, the Wizards still failed to keep up with the Celtics’ offense and need to improve their defensive awareness.

Wizards need to involve Alex Sarr more in offense

This year’s second overall pick had a difficult debut. Sarr scored just two points on 1 of 7 shooting.

The ball rarely turned Sarr’s way in the first half, and he only received four touches in the first half.

When he touched the basketball, his shot selection did not reflect his game before entering the NBA. In Australia, he scored primarily by moving away from the ball and cutting to the basket.

During his NBA debut on Thursday, he was tasked with plenty of pick-and-pops. Five of his seven shot attempts were threes. He missed all five from beyond the arc.

Whether intentionally or not, Sarr played out of position all night. For a seven-foot man, taking more three than two is not ideal. Could his shot selection be a byproduct of his need to develop a stronger postgame for the NBA?

Sarr’s first and only points of his NBA career came on a dunk after a missed layup by Kyle Kuzma. On the next defensive possession, he was able to keep Jaylen Brown one-on-one, forcing a missed three-pointer from the Celtics star.