Celtics beat Wizards in what feels like a home game on the road

The arena was filled with so much Celtic green you might have thought you were at TD Garden. But, it was the streets of downtown Washington DC that were flooded with fans donning Tatum and Brown jerseys, hours before the Celtics-Wizards Sunday evening match-up even tipped off. When the doors finally opened, a sea of Celtics fans inundated Capital One Arena, crowding around the players’ tunnel in hopes of getting an autograph, a wave, or any sort of acknowledgement from one of the stars.

The lack of Wizards fans became even more noticeable when starting lineups were introduced, and the crowd rose to its feet for the Celtics’ introductions, but stayed quiet for the Wizards. That set the tone for the rest of the night; when the Celtics scored, the place erupted, reminiscent of how it would in Boston, just without the support of the in-arena sound effects.

“It’s becoming the norm in a lot of places we go,” Tatum said of the widespread support from the fans. “You really appreciate the fans — how well we travel, the love and support that they show us, everywhere we go.”

All night long, the in-arena hosts tried to rally the crowd to cheer for the home team, but without much luck. The Wizards fell behind by double-digits early on, trailing by as many as 36, and ultimately fell 130-104 to the red-hot Celtics.

The Celtics came out swinging and never looked back, led by Jayson Tatum, who finished with 30 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals in three quarters. Payton Pritchard added 12 points and a career-high 13 assists off the bench, and Luke Kornet and Al Horford each added 14.

Sam Hauser, who hit a career-best 10 of 13 threes, was on pace to break the franchise record of 11 threes before spraining his ankle midway through the third quarter. When he exited, he did so to a passionate ovation from a Capital One Arena Crowd that was in awe of his shooting performance.

Demond McFarland was one of the hundreds of Celtics fans who showed up early to watch the Celtics secure a 5th-straight win and improve their record to a league-best 53-14. A fan since 1984, McFarland made the trip to DC all the way from Rochester, New York.

McFarland said he’s liked what he’s seen from the Celtics, who hold a league-best 53-14 record this…