Boston Celtics vs Atlanta Hawks
When: 8:00 PM  ET, Friday, January 13, 2017
Where: Philips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia

TV: 8 p.m. ET, CSN New England (Boston), FSN Southeast (Atlanta)
PREDICTION: Hawks 104, Celtics 101

ATLANTA — Al Horford’s return to Atlanta with the Boston Celtics to face the Hawks for the first time isn’t the only storyline to Friday night’s game.

The Hawks, seemingly in teardown mode only a week or so ago after trading guard Kyle Korver, have won seven in a row to regain first place in the Southeast Division and are no longer listening to trade offers for forward Paul Millsap.

Millsap and Horford, who left during the summer to sign with the Celtics as a free agent, were cornerstones of a team that won 60 games two seasons ago, but it appeared both would be gone when the Hawks lost 10 of 11 games and rumors of a dismantling started to swirl.

The Hawks, though, notified other teams early this week that they planned to hold on to Millsap, a pending free agent, and the turnaround has left Atlanta (22-16) just behind Boston (24-15) for the third-best record in the Eastern Conference.

“I think him staying a part of this group and pushing forward this year is important to us,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said.

“It’s a sigh of relief to know that nothing is going to happen,” said Millsap, who is averaging 17.6 points, 8.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists. “I can focus on basketball, focus on getting this team to the playoffs and, hopefully, get a championship.”

By not trading Millsap, though, the Hawks risk losing him to free agency after the season and getting nothing in return. That is what happened with Horford, who spent the first nine seasons of his NBA career in Atlanta and made the All-Star Game four times like Millsap.

“It will be different for me, you know the first time going back, but I’m looking forward to it,” Horford said.

Horford is averaging 15.3 points, 6.9 records and 4.9 assists for his new team. It will be interesting to see the reaction from Hawks fans at Phillips Arena.

“I realize it is (a big deal) … (but) my approach is the same,” he said. “I’m going to prepare the same. I’m going to do the tings I’m going to do. It’s a new experience for me, but I have a job to do here with our team.”

Millsap hopes that Horford will be appreciated for what he went to Atlanta and the Hawks but that the Celtics don”t leave as winners.

“Al is a good basketball player, but, more importantly on top of that, he is a great guy off the court,” Millsap said. “He did a lot in the community. He is a good friend to a lot of us. He is sadly missed. He is with a good team. It’s going to be good to see him come to Atlanta and play. Fans are excited about it. We are excited about it.”

It will be the third game in four nights over three cities for the Celtics. The Hawks have been off since a victory at Brooklyn on Tuesday.

The Celtics were without five players but still won for the fifth time in six games on Wednesday against Washington at home.

Guard Isaiah Thomas, averaging 28.2 points per game, had 38 against the Wizards and has scored at least 20 points in each of the past 23 games.

“He’s been playing as impressive as I’ve seen someone play,” Horford said.

Guard Avery Bradley, Boston’s second-leading scorer at 18 points per game, has been sidelined because of a strained right Achilles’ tendon, and forward Amir Johnson missed the Washington game with a sprained ankle.

Guard Mike Dunleavy Jr., acquired from Cleveland as part of the return for Korver, will be in uniform as a Hawk for the first time against the Celtics.

It won’t be a normal Atlanta uniform, though. The team will wear blue and lime green throwbacks from the early 1970s.

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Washington Wizards vs Boston Celtics
When: 8:00 PM ET, Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Where: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts

TV: 8 p.m. ET, CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington), CSN New England (Boston)
PREDICTION: Celtics 113, Wizards 108

BOSTON — It was just last week that Isaiah Thomas made it clear he should have been selected as the Eastern Conference player of the month for December.

Washington’s John Wall, whose numbers – even a 52-point game – matched Boston’s Little Big Man, was given the honor.

On Wednesday night, the talented guards go head-to-head as both the Wizards and Celtics play the latter half of a back-to-back at TD Garden.

Tuesday night, Wall recorded the last two of his 26 points with 5.9 seconds left as the Wizards rallied from 18 points down against a short-handed Bulls team. Washington won its 10th straight home game and rose above the .500 mark (19-18) for the first time since it was 6-5 on Nov. 24, 2015.

“Just to be playing the way were playing and the December we had was big for us,” Wall said. “The way we started was terrible. If we didn’t have a good enough December, we probably wouldn’t be in this position to be a .500 team or better.

Up north, Thomas scored 27 points – his 22nd straight 20-point game – but the Celtics gave up 68 points in the second half, blew a 16-point third quarter lead and lost to the Toronto Raptors.

For the second straight night, the Celtics will have to deal with a talented opposing backcourt, but it looks like they’ll be able to do it with Avery Bradley back in the lineup after he missed two games with a slight Achilles strain.

Nov. 9 at Washington, the Wizards spurted to a 26-point first quarter lead and Otto Porter’s career night of 34 points and 14 rebounds led the Wizards to an easy win. The Celtics played without the injured Al Horford and Jae Crowder that night.

Boston’s four-game winning streak was snapped Tuesday night, as it missed a chance to inch past the Raptors into second place (via tiebreaker) in the East. The Celtics also saw their impressive streak of four games in a row with at least 17 3-pointers come to a halt by going just 9-for-27 from behind the arc – falling to 23-15.

“We didn’t make plays. We didn’t make shots at the offensive end,” Thomas said. “On top of that we didn’t get stops.”

In Washington, Wall also had 14 assists and six rebounds, while fellow guard Bradley Beal and Markieff Morris scored 19 points apiece.

“He is a winner,” Wizards coach Scott Brooks said of Wall. “That is the bottom line. We have a team full of winners and that really helps. We are not always perfect, but I like the guys’ mentality.”

“I thought he made the right play on shooting that (winner). If they were going to jump out at him, the pass was the right play. It’s not who makes the last shot, it’s who makes the right play.”

DeMar DeRozan scored 41 points and led the Toronto charge that caught and passed the Celtics.

“I probably saw more encouraging signs of progress than negative,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said.

As far as coming home to play so quickly, Boston’s Al Horford said, “It’s hard, but this is how the NBA work. … We need to get back home, rest up and get ready.”

Said Thomas: “This week is big for us. We’ve got to go one game at a time and take care of home. We’ve got Washington (Wednesday) and then we’ll go into Atlanta (Friday, Horford’s first time back) and try to get one. ”

The Celtics are 5-3, winning five of their last six back ends of back-to-backs, while the Wizards are just 1-6.

Wall scored 19 points and was ejected from the first meeting between the teams when he was hit for a flagrant-2 for a hit on Marcus Smart.

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New Orleans Pelicans vs. Boston Celtics
When: 7:30 PM ET, Saturday, January 7, 2017
Where: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN New Orleans, CSN New England (Boston)
PREDICTION: Celtics 122, Pelicans 112

Oddsmakers currently have the Celtics listed as 7½-point favorites versus the Pelicans, while the game’s total is sitting at 213.

BOSTON — Having dealt with one of the NBA’s prime young big men in Friday night’s win, the Boston Celtics see another one Saturday night when Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans visit TD Garden.

Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, just getting his NBA feet wet after his battles with injuries, was outstanding in just under 26 minutes Friday night. He scored 23 points and grabbing eight rebounds in the 110-106 loss to the Celtics.

Davis is another story entirely. He’s already a star and comes to town averaging 28.6 points, 12 rebounds, 2.54 blocks and 1.4 steals per game for the Pelicans (14-23).

He had 25 points and 16 rebounds the first time these teams met, in New Orleans on Nov. 14. The then 1-9 Pelicans beat the Celtics by a point even though Isaiah Thomas scored 37 points and dished out seven assists.

Friday night, the Celtics hit a club-record 19 3-pointers, four of them by big man Al Horford in the fourth quarter.

It was the third straight game they’ve either set or tied the mark (they had 17 in each of the previous two). They are 53-for-103 – 51.5 percent – from behind the arc in those games, all wins.

“They need every one of those threes (Friday) and I give them credit,” Philadelphia coach Brett Brown said. “That’s what they do.”

The Pelicans dropped a five-point decision at Atlanta Thursday, with Davis scoring 20 points and grabbing 19 rebounds and Jrue Holiday adding 18 points.

“We weren’t moving the ball,” Davis said. “We had 19 assists, but it felt like mostly one-on-one, then passing the ball. When we play one-on-one, we get a lot of bad shots.”

Said coach Alvin Gentry: “We had 19 assists, but that’s a bogus number really. A lot of them came from us trying to do too much and we lucked into finding an open guy to make a shot. It wasn’t a flow. It wasn’t anything that had a rhythm to it and we just never got that point in the game.

“Offensively, we’re just not moving the basketball.”

The Celtics (22-14) certainly are. They had 28 assists on 35 baskets Friday night (87 assists during the winning streak), as Avery Bradley scored 26 points and Thomas 24 for his 20th straight 20-point game.

Thomas is usually the man who does it for the Celtics down the stretch, but Friday night it was Horford.

“That guy’s a four-time All-Star. He’s won a ton of games, no matter where he’s been. He’s good – not worried about him,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said after the game.

The win was the ninth in the last 11 games for the Celtics, who have also finally figured out how to win at home. They have won four straight at TD Garden, lifting their record to 10-6 (12-8 on the road).

Stevens felt his team was out-toughed for the first 28 minutes of the contest before coming on, allowing the Celtics to escape on a night where they didn’t play their best game.

“Our grit shows,” said Marcus Smart, who had 14 points, eight assists and his usual stiff defense off the bench. “It showed what type of team we are. We stuck together. We didn’t stray away from the plan that Brad drew up for us and we just really trusted one another and the game turned around for us.”

The Celtics will again be without backup big man Tyler Zeller Saturday. Zeller missing his third straight game with illness.

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Philadelphia 76ers vs. Boston Celtics
When: 7:30 PM ET, Friday, January 6, 2017
Where: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, CSN Philadelphia, CSN New England (Boston)
PREDICTION: Celtics 114, 76ers 101

BOSTON — Having dealt with their first off-court issue of the season, the Celtics were preparing to deal with Philadelphia big man Joel Embiid on the court when the teams meet at TD Garden Friday night.

Embiid, whose career has been stalled by physical woes, has been on fire lately, but missed Thursday’s practice with a flu bug. He joins teammate Robert Covington (back contusion) as questionable for the game.

The Sixers (9-24, one game ahead of the Brooklyn Nets in the battle for the worst record in the league) have won two straight for the third time this season and seek their first three-game winning streak Friday.

Embiid, who did travel with the team to Boston, has averaged 24 points, seven rebounds, 2.5 blocked shots and four assists in the two games but has scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds per game in his last six games.

The Celtics have a slight roster issue as well, as backup center Tyler Zeller missed Tuesday night’s win over the Utah Jazz with a sinus infection, and he still wasn’t at practice Thursday.

But the news out of the Celtics centered on Jae Crowder, who went on a Twitter rant after Tuesday’s game because the home crowd was cheering for Utah’s Gordon Hayward, a potential free agent this summer.

The pair matched up Tuesday and Crowder got the better of it in a Celtics win.

Crowder deleted most of what he said, which included, in caps, “I HEARD THE CHEERING 1/8FOR HAYWARD 3/8 BEFORE THE GAME. I DIDN’T LIKE IT THAT AT ALL. I THINK IT WAS A SIGN OF DISREPECT TO ME FROM THE FANS. THAT SPARKED A LITTLE FIRE IN ME.”

Thursday, he apologized for his words, but again said he didn’t like the fans cheering for prospective targets, like Hayward and, last year, Kevin Durant.

“I didn’t like that, either,” he said. “I just remember when I got here a couple years ago and we were however many games under .500, the fans cheered for us. Not one time did they cheer for another player when they came into town. Things have changed since then, I’m aware of that.

“That’s never happened in an arena that I’ve been in. I’ve never been on the road and got cheered for, or even one of my teammates get cheered for by the opposing team. It’s just something different for me that really set me off. I don’t like when they cheer for DeMarcus Cousins. I don’t like when they cheer for Kevin Durant. I don’t think you should do that. That’s all I was saying.”

Club president Danny Ainge had an interesting take on the event, and quipped Wednesday, “If I can get the crowd to cheer the starting small forwards every game, Jae would play his best. I like that. Whatever it takes to get him motivated to play, I’m OK with. But I agree with (coach Brad Stevens). I’m not worried about Jae Crowder at all.”

Said Crowder: “Obviously, I don’t want to leave Boston. Obviously, I love it here. Obviously, the fans have treated me great. No doubt about that.”

The Celtics (21-14) have won eight of their last 10 games and have won three in a row at home for the first time this season. Friday marks the start of a rarity – back-to-back home game. Boston hosts the New Orleans Pelicans Saturday night.

Isaiah Thomas scored 37 points and added seven assists in the Celtics’ 107-106 win at Philadelphia Dec. 3 — Embiid sat out that game to rest.

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Boston Celtics vs Houston Rockets
When: 8:00 PM ET, Monday, December 5, 2016
Where: Toyota Center, Houston, Texas

TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBATV, CSN New England (Boston), ROOT (Houston)
PREDICTION: Rockets 117, Celtics 110

Behind another outstanding performance by Isaiah Thomas (12 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter), the Celtics squeaked past the Philadelphia 76ers 107-106 to begin the road trip Saturday night. Like Boston, the Rockets have won two straight after finishing their 4-1 road trip with a 128-110 win at Denver on Friday. Seven players scored in double figures and Houston was 17-of-37 from 3-point range, hitting their league-leading average in long-range attempts and bumping their percentage to 37.8, good for fifth in the NBA through Saturday. The Celtics ranked fifth in 3-point tries (30.8) and 10th in percentage (36) entering Sunday.

ABOUT THE CELTICS (12-8): Avery Bradley supported Thomas’ effort with 20 points of his own and he hauled in nine rebounds for the second straight game to bump his season average to 7.9, five more than his career mark. Jonas Jerebko was second on the team with six boards against the 76ers and he also hit one of his two 3-point attempts to give him a remarkable 9-of-11 showing over the last eight games. Thomas averaged 26.5 points while shooting 57.6 percent (56.3 from behind the arc) in a two-game split with Houston last season.

ABOUT THE ROCKETS (13-7): Houston’s win in Denver was all the more impressive due to the fact that it had to go to double overtime to win the night before in Golden State, and was further proof that the team has turned a corner from the dysfunction of a season ago. “A lot of positives,” coach Mike D’Antoni told reporters. “They found the energy to go ahead and finish up the game. It wasn’t always pretty. It’s a special group that can conjure that kind of energy in altitude after getting in at 5 o’clock in the morning.” It helps when there are so many shooters to call on, and Houston has made at least 10 3-pointers in an NBA-record 19 straight games.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Rockets F Trevor Ariza (back) left Friday’s game in Denver and is considered day-to-day.

2. Celtics C Al Horford has averaged 16.7 points in seven wins and 10.7 in three losses.

3. Rockets G James Harden has eight straight games of at least 20 points but is shooting just 35.5 percent from the field – including 5-of-22 on 3-pointers – in the last three contests.

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BOSTON vs PHILADELPHIA
When: 7:30 PM ET, Saturday, December 3, 2016
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, CSN New England (Boston), CSN Philadelphia
PREDICTION: Celtics 106, 76ers 96

Al Horford might finally be hitting his stride for the Boston Celtics, who open a three-game road trip against the Joel Embiid-less Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night.

Horford signed a four-year, $113 million free agent contract with the Celtics in the offseason and on Friday scored a season-high 26 points as Boston held off the Sacramento Kings 97-92.

Horford, who spent his first nine seasons with Atlanta, made 10 of 18 shots from the floor (including 4-of-7 from 3-point range). He added eight rebounds and six blocked shots, another season high. It was also one shy of his career high.

The biggest of the six came on a 3-point attempt by Sacramento center DeMarcus Cousins in the closing seconds. The Kings trailed just 95-92 at the time, and Cousins attempted to bait Horford into a foul, to no avail. He swatted the shot, recovered the loose ball and hit the two clinching free throws with 4.8 seconds remaining.

“I know he tried to draw something there,” Horford told the Boston Globe, “but I just stayed solid and did not let him get a shot off.”

Horford has appeared in just nine games this season for Boston (11-8). He missed nine others while in the concussion protocol, and also skipped Monday’s victory over Miami so he could be with his wife, Amelia Vega, as she gave birth to the couple’s second child, a daughter named Alia.

Horford managed just five shots while scoring nine points in more than 31 minutes of Wednesday’s loss to Detroit but asserted himself Friday.

“He wanted to come out and be aggressive,” Celtics forward Jae Crowder told the Globe. “We wanted to give him the ball, get him some touches early.”

Crowder has appeared in 11 games to date, having missed eight with a sprained left ankle.

With the lineup in a state of flux most of the season, Boston’s guards have excelled. Isaiah Thomas is averaging 25.7 points per game, including 20 on Friday against Sacramento, and Avery Bradley is generating 17.6. He scored 16 against the Kings.

Philadelphia (4-15) shot just 37.9 percent from the floor in Friday’s 105-88 loss to Orlando, the Sixers’ fifth straight defeat. They had not played since losing Monday night in Toronto but trailed by as many as 29 points in losing to the Magic, who the night before frittered away a 13-point lead in the last 6:12 while losing in Memphis.

“Sometimes you read so much into back-to-backs,” Philadelphia coach Brett Brown said. “You assume people are tired or depressed, because they lost at the buzzer. I give them credit. They came in and played with great energy. I don’t know how to explain that.”

Embiid, the rookie center, piled up 25 points and 10 rebounds for the Sixers. He will not play against the Celtics, however. The team is not using him in back-to-back games, as he is playing his first season after missing two after two foot surgeries.

Veteran guard Jerryd Bayless also missed his third straight game with a sore left wrist Friday, and forward Robert Covington left in the fourth quarter with a sprained left knee. The status of both is in question for Saturday’s game.

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TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBATV, CSN New England (Boston), FSN Sun (Miami)
PREDICTION: Celtics 106, Heat 96

MIAMI — It’s not as if they still have Bird, McHale and Parish.

It’s not as if — going back even further — they still have Russell and Cousy.

No, the Boston Celtics don’t have any of those superstars. Their leading scorer is Isaiah Thomas — and he’s not that Isaiah Thomas, the Hall of Famer from Chicago.

This is the 5-foot-9 Isaiah Thomas, the one from Tacoma, Wash. Yet this particular Thomas, who is averaging 26.1 points and 6.3 assists, has continued a recent but substantial trend of Celtics domination over the Miami Heat.

Since Thomas joined the Celtics last season, Boston is 3-0 against the Heat, and it’s an Eastern Conference rivalry that will be renewed on Monday night inside Miami’s AmericanAirlines Arena.

But going back before Thomas arrived, Boston has won at least one game per season in nine of the past 10 years. That overlaps the time span when the Heat had far superior talent with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

Now Miami’s “Big Three” is effectively gone, and the Heat (5-11) is paying the price, falling to its current standing of 13th place out of 15 teams in the Eastern Conference.

The Celtics (9-7), meanwhile, appear to be a team on the rise, sitting in fifth place in the East at the moment.

Boston could be ready to get on a roll now that post player and four-time All-Star Al Horford has returned. He missed nine games due to a concussion, and he is just now rounding back into form after returning on Nov. 19.

“He makes a huge difference to our team,” Thomas told the media. “Even if he is not scoring, he is still defending and making plays for his teammates.”

Horford has two double-doubles in the four games since he came off the disabled list. He has averaged 16.8 points and 8.0 rebounds since returning, and both of those numbers are higher than his season averages.

Miami already struggles to score but may get strangled on Monday by Avery Bradley’s tight defense. Bradley, a 6-2 shooting guard, is a dynamo who is just entering his prime after years of battling injuries.

Bradley, who made first-team All-Defense last season, leads Boston in rebounding (8.0) and is second in scoring (17.9).

Jae Crowder, a 6-6, 235-pound small forward, is Boston’s other double-figure scorer, averaging 12.5 points.

Amir Johnson, a 6-9, 240-pound power forward, is Boston’s fifth starter. He, Bradley and Horford are the key figures on Boston’s defense. And remember, Boston was fifth in the NBA in defensive efficiency last season without Horford.

His defense has made the unit better.

The Heat will try to crack that defense, but it will depend to a large extent on some health issues. Point guard Goran Dragic (elbow) and shooting guard Dion Waiters (groin) are listed as questionable.

In addition, starting small forward Justise Winslow is out due to a wrist injury. It will be the eighth straight game he has missed.

“Has it been that long already?” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said painfully. “Everything is day to day. He hasn’t gone through a practice yet.”

Generally, Spoelstra prefers that a player get at least one full practice in before returning to the lineup. But with Miami potentially missing three of its top four starters — Dragic, Waiters and Winslow — Spoelstra may have to alter that plan.

Miami will continue to rely on center Hassan Whiteside, who is averaging 16.8 points, 14.9 rebounds and 2.5 blocks.

On the perimeter, Miami will look to scorers such as Josh Richardson (10.8) and sixth-man Tyler Johnson (12.4).

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Dallas Mavericks vs. Boston Celtics
When: 7:30 PM ET, Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Where: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (Dallas), CSN New England (Boston)
PREDICTION: Celtics 100, Mavericks 90

Odds aren’t yet posted for this game, so check back later for the opening line and total.

DALLAS vs BOSTON
When: 11/16/2016 7:35 PM

BOSTON — Isaiah Thomas tied his career high with 37 points for the Boston Celtics at New Orleans on Monday night.

In New York, Harrison Barnes registered his fourth straight 20-point game for the Dallas Mavericks.

The individual efforts, however, didn’t lead to victories and the teams meet at TD Garden on Wednesday night.

“I think we’re at a time where as a team each person has to look at individually what they can do,” Barnes, who won a ring with the Golden State Warriors last season, said after the Mavs, again playing without Dirk Nowitzki, lost 93-77 to the Knicks.

Thomas, the Celtics’ little giant, put on a one-man show in the fourth quarter in New Orleans, only to have the Pelicans emerge with just their second win in 11 games.

“I don’t feel like we played as well as we should have,” Avery Bradley said after his team fell to 5-5. “Even myself — I don’t feel like I came out and made shots in the second half and it hurt our team. It can’t just be Isaiah; it has to be other guys that are out there making plays for each other and making shots.”

Nowitzki has missed the last four games for the Mavs (2-7) with an Achilles injury, joining teammates Deron Williams and Devin Harris on the sideline. He went through an extensive working in New York pre-game but just wasn’t ready. It didn’t sound like Wednesday would be any different.

“The biggest issue is just the running. I’m not a big runner at this stage of my career, but I can’t really go up and down yet,” Nowitzki said Monday. “I haven’t really done a full practice, so I’m just not quite there yet. But the good thing is it’s getting better.

“Since sitting out last week, obviously, I’m doing more and more. We’ve increased the load, so I’m getting closer. But unfortunately, we just couldn’t pull it off tonight.”

Owner Mark Cuban told the Dallas Morning News: “You play the hand you’re dealt. I think he’s really close. He’s feeling better. We just don’t want to rush anything. There’s no reason to. We’ll wait until they’re healthy.”

While Dallas has been missing its aging star and two others, the Celtics have been without Al Horford (concussion, seven games) and former Mav Jae Crowder (ankle, six games). Both were close, but Crowder is out Wednesday and Horford is a possibility to return.

“We’re trying to be as smart as we can about this,” Horford said. “I just want to make sure that when I’m ready to go I’m good to go.”

Thomas scored 37 Monday despite a sore middle finger on his left hand. He also had seven assists while going 13-for-29 from the floor.

“I just don’t have the same feel I have when it’s not swollen, so a lot of my layups and (shots) come off my hand wrong,” he said. “I’m just trying to slowly figure it out and adjust. It’s tough, but there’s no excuses, so I’ll figure it out.”

Said coach Brad Stevens: “Isaiah’s super tough. He always has nicks and bruises because of the way he plays, but he’s a tough guy.”

Thomas, who has had at least 20 points in all 10 Boston games, is eighth in the NBA with a 26.9 scoring average and is 10th with 6.6 assists. He is averaging the same number of rebounds and turnovers — 2.8.

Barnes, who signed a $94 million contract with the Mavericks, was shaky in the preseason. But he has been coming on. He has raised his scoring average to 22.3 points per game, to go along with 5.9 rebounds.

The Mavericks swept the two-game season series with the Celtics for the third straight year in 2015-16 and bring a seven-game series winning streak into this game.

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“There’s been a lot of second pick busts,” Parker said Saturday morning, at the grand opening of the redesigned Jordan space inside Nike Chicago. “I’m just trying not to be that bust. Everyday that I step on the court, I just remind myself that I have a long ways to go. If I want to be one of those guys in the first tier of the NBA, like a LeBron, like a Kobe, like a [Blake Griffin], then I have to have that mentality starting off from the ground, and work my way up.”

Parker knows his history.

There is an unusually high amount of players who could rightfully be labeled as being busts that were taken second overall. The list is long, and includes names like Darko Milicic, Michael Beasley, and perhaps most famously Sam Bowie, who the Blazers took second in the 1984 draft, with Michael Jordan’s name still on the board.

In recent years, the players picked second don’t appear like they’ll amount to much, either, though there is still time. Victor Oladipo, last year’s number two pick, seems just fine. But Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Derrick Williams, Evan Turner and Hasheem Thabeet all appear to be miles away from living up to that level of expectation.

Parker is entering the league with a rebuilding Bucks team, and playing his whole life at winning programs like Duke University and Simeon Career Academy high school, he hasn’t experienced much losing. He seems prepared to handle whatever his first season may bring, however, and said his brief professional experience at Summer League in Las Vegas has helped prepare him to meet that challenge.

“I definitely learned that winning isn’t guaranteed, especially in the Summer League,” Parker said. “So I just have to have that gratitude, and just be grateful for every win that I get. If I have that attitude, then we’ll bring some good things to Milwaukee, and hopefully bring those out into the playoffs if we get the chance.”

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But when he’s open, his teammates are confident he can score.

“He seems to always be in the right spots, available,” Pierce said after Bass scored 20 points to lead the Celtics to a 107-96 win Sunday night. “That’s going to be huge for us if he continues to play well going into the playoffs, and the great thing about it is he’s doing it all off of the hustle plays.”

In the eight games Garnett missed with an inflamed left ankle, Bass averaged 12.3 points, raising his season average to 8.3. On Sunday, he shot 9 of 12 and added six rebounds.

“He’s just efficient,” Boston coach Doc Rivers said. “Overall, I think he’s playing terrific. I think he’s in a wonderful place right now.”

Garnett had 12 points and six rebounds in 24 minutes. Pierce finished with 15 points in 30 minutes after missing Friday night’s 97-91 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers with a sore left ankle.

“Things flow a lot smoother when Kevin and Paul are out there because everything’s being run through them and everybody else is just getting what they get from them,” Bass said. “So it’s a lot better when they’re out (on the court). It doesn’t matter if I get a play called. The ball will find me and, hopefully, I just make the shot.”

Bass missed his season high by just two points and led the Celtics with eight points in the third quarter, when they hit 75 percent of their shots, outscored Washington 31-19 and stretched a 56-52 halftime lead to 87-71.

They’re still missing Rajon Rondo and Jared Sullinger, both sidelined for the season, but led by at least 10 points the rest of the way to get just their fourth win in 12 games.

John Wall led Washington with 16 points but never got to the foul line as Boston outscored Washington 17-8 on free throws. A.J. Price had 15 points and Trevor Ariza added 14.

“We play a team like this and when you’re not playing great defensively you have got to be able to make shots,” Wall said, “and we had a tough night.”

The Wizards hit just 44.5 percent of their shots. But in the second half they connected on only 41.5 percent, while the Celtics made 64.5 percent.

“It doesn’t matter what lineup (we use) or who’s on the floor as long as we’re playing the right way,” Garnett said. “That’s all my concern is, just making sure that we’re sharing the ball, playing as a team, giving up for each other, playing defensively.”

The win ended a four-game stretch against weak teams in which the Celtics lost to Minnesota, beat Detroit, lost to Cleveland and beat Washington. With five games left and the Celtics trying to move up from seventh place in the Eastern Conference, the schedule gets tougher with a home game Wednesday night against the Brooklyn Nets before a road game Friday against the Miami Heat.

Washington fell to 7-31 on the road but is 23-20 overall since Wall returned from a shoulder injury.

“Against a team like this that’s playing for something, who has a seed in the playoffs, they’re going to keep competing,” Wall said. “And they got everybody back tonight and they were clicking right away.”

A dunk by Nene with 10:24 left in the third quarter had cut the Celtics’ lead to 58-57, but they went on a 29-14 surge the rest of the period.

The Celtics began the spurt with a 14-1 run, starting with a layup by Avery Bradley. Pierce hit another layup and Bradley followed with a 16-footer. Martell Webster sank a free throw for the Wizards after Garnett was called for a technical foul with 7:57 left in the quarter. But Emeka Okafor then missed two free throws for Washington.

Boston scored the next eight points on a 14-foot jumper by Bass, two free throws by Shavlik Randolph, an 18-footer by Jason Terry and a dunk by Bass.

Ariza then scored Washington’s first field goal in nearly six minutes when Randolph was called for goaltending with 4:39 left in the period, cutting Boston’s lead to 72-60.

“We had that stretch in the third quarter where we struggled offensively and they were clicking offensively,” Wizards coach Randy Wittman said, “and that was the difference.”

Game notes

Washington forward Trevor Booker left the game with a bruised tailbone with 5:42 left in the first half and didn’t return. … Chris Wilcox had 13 points for Boston, one below his season high. … The Celtics swept the three-game season series. … Jordan Crawford had six points in 16 minutes in his first game against the Wizards since being traded on Feb. 21. He had been upset with his diminished playing time in Washington.

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