Boston Celtics Team Report - April 5

(Basketball News) - The Celtics suffered a tough 112-102 defeat at the hands of the Washington Wizards at the MCI Center Sunday.

Marcus Banks notched a career-high 24 points and collected six steals for the Celtics, who lost for the second time in three games. Paul Pierce and Ricky Davis each scored 17 for Boston, with Pierce chipping in with 13 assists and seven rebounds.

Banks’ previous high-scoring game was just 14 points.

The Celtics sit eighth in the Eastern Conference — one game behind seventh place New York and 2 1/2 contests ahead of ninth place Cleveland. Boston has just five games remaining to secure a postseason slot.

Washington faced an 83-82 deficit in the early stages of the fourth quarter, but used an 8-0 burst to grab a 90-83 advantage with nine minutes to play.

Boston sliced the lead to one at 91-90 on a Banks reverse layup with less than seven minutes to play, but the Wizards scored the next five points to move ahead 96-90 with just over five minutes remaining. The Celtics would get no closer than four points the rest of the way.

Boston fell to 7-5 in games played on Sunday this season, and is 17-21 away from home. The Celtics have their next three contests in foreign buildings.

Boston has a two-day hiatus before traveling to Miami to face the Heat Wednesday night. The Celtics have won the first two meetings with the Heat season.