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Five weeks into the season, the Boston Celtics are exactly where they wanted to be after rallying to a 16-4 record and being tied for the first place in the Eastern Conference. Thus, Boston will head to Washington to take on Gilbert Arenas and the Wizards at Verizon Center on Friday at 1 a.m. GMT.

Albeit the Wizards’ fan base had sky-high expectations for their team in this year’s NBA campaign, Gilbert Arenas and company got off to a rather slow start so far. That said, the Washington Wizards are still just one game away from the eight playoff seed despite their mediocre 7-11 record. One issue has been the inconsistency of Flip Saunders’ squad as they were able to clinch big wins but also dropped some games versus teams at the bottom of the league. However, it should be noted that Washington started the season without All-Star forward Antawn Jamison who returned to the floor two weeks ago. Just like the Wizards were hoping, Jamison immediately made a positive impact offensively, putting up 20.1 points and 8.7 rebounds per game.

The Celtics on the other hand underlined their championship ambitions right from the beginning of the season. Leading the Eastern Conference with 16 wins in 20 games, the team around Kevin Garnett performed even better at the defensive end of the floor than in 2008-09. In fact, Boston held their opponents to just 90 points per contest and 44% shooting from the floor. Offensively, the Celtics had no trouble scoring and were led by All-Star Paul Pierce who averages 18.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 35 minutes per game. Similarly, Rajon Rondo continued to elevate his game and is currently fourth in the league with no less than 9.0 assists a night. Considering the situation of both teams, the Celtics seem to be the undisputed favorites heading into their encounter with the Wizards. However, Boston should not underestimate Gilbert Arenas and company who can be a dangerous team once their offense gets rolling. That said, Washington’s starters might have to play a lot of minutes since the Wizards’ second unit is not nearly as deep as the Celtics’.

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