NBA: Top-seeded Celtics crush Wizards in regular-season finale

Payton Pritchard scored a career-high 38 points and added 12 assists and nine rebounds as the Boston Celtics beat the visiting Washington Wizards 132-122 on Sunday on the final day of the NBA’s regular season.

Pritchard made 15 of 21 field-goal attempts. He established his previous career high for points on Friday when he tossed in 31 during a 131-98 triumph against Charlotte.

Svi Mykhailiuk had 26 points for the Celtics, who received 19 points and nine rebounds from Neemias Queta.

Eugene Omoruyi led Washington with 26 points, and Jared Butler added 22. Patrick Baldwin Jr. (17 points), Jules Bernard (13) and Anthony Gill (12) were the other Wizards who scored in double figures.

The Wizards (15-67) had eight players listed as out on their injury report, including the team’s top two scorers: Kyle Kuzma (22.2 points per game) and Jordan Poole (17.4).

The Celtics (64-18) rested most of their top players for the second straight game and were without Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, Al Horford, Jayson Tatum, Kristaps Porzingis and Derrick White.

The Celtics secured the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference on March 25 and the NBA’s best record on April 3, but they won’t know their first-round playoff opponent until after the play-in tournament.

Washington ended its season on a six-game losing streak. The Wizards finished with an 8-33 record on the road.

Boston led 34-30 after one quarter and 61-59 with 1:14 remaining in the second, but the Celtics closed the first half on an 8-0 run that was capped by a Pritchard 3-pointer with 3.6 seconds left. Boston’s 69-59 advantage at halftime was its largest lead of the half.

The Celtics made 9 of 18 3-pointers in the half. Pritchard had 22 points, including four 3-pointers, in the first two quarters.

Boston stretched its lead to 107-89 after three quarters, and the Wizards were never closer than 10 points in the fourth. — Field Level Media/Reuters