Morris twins want no part of each other in playoffs

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We’ve heard from  Celtics forward Marcus Morris about not wanting to play the Wizards and his twin brother Markieff in the first round of the playoffs. 
 
Markieff has now chimed in, doing what twins do in echoing similar sentiments about facing the Celtics. 
 
Well, a Celtics win tonight over the Wizards will go a long way towards ensuring that both players get their wish granted. 
 
A victory by Boston tonight over Washington (42-38), combined with a win for Miami and Milwaukee, would lock the Wizards into being the eighth seed in the playoffs, where they would open up against the Toronto Raptors.
 
“If it was my choice, I would say no,” Markieff told reporters when asked about playing against his brother and the Celtics. “But at the end of the day, man, you can’t pick and choose who we want to play. So it is what it is.”
 
The intensity level required to win in the playoffs is indeed of a higher quality than what we see in the regular season. 
 
Ratcheting that up is never easy, but presents an even greater challenge when it has to be done against someone who knows you better than anyone else. 
 
“We’re going to war and when I go out there, like I tell him, ‘it’s war time.’ It’s like fighting for your life out here and I would hate for it to be my brother and it’s the first round? To have to be that bully to my brother when I know it’s going to be like the same.”
 
Here are five under-the-radar story lines to keep an eye on as Boston closes out the road portion of their schedule tonight at Washington.  
 
THE MONTH OF APRIL
 
Boston has even more incentive to try and finish out the regular season playing well. The Celtics need to win their last two games in order to avoid a losing record for the month of April. Boston hasn’t had a losing month of play since going 5-11 in January of 2015. 
 
The 3-POINT SHOT
 
The 3-point shot is still a big part of what the Celtics want to do on a night-in, night-out basis. But lately, it hasn’t been nearly as central to what they do. In the last 13 games, 30 percent of Boston’s shot attempts have been 30 pointers, which ranks just 24th in the league during that span. In the first 67 games, 37 percent of Boston’s shot attempts were from 3-point range which ranked sixth in the league. 
 
ROOKIES
 
Despite having a team with deep playoff aspirations, the Celtics found themselves counting on rookies -- and it hasn’t just been Jayson Tatum.
 
Boston has gotten 1,848 points from its rookies which ranks fourth in the NBA this season. Meanwhile, the Wizards are dead-last among all rookies for in every statistical category when it comes to rookies because they didn’t play any this year. 
 
DEFENSIVE RATING
 
April has not been a good month for the Celtics, particularly when it relates to their defense. Boston’s defensive rating for the season is 101.5, a far cry from where its been in recent games. 
 
In April, Boston’s defensive rating has slipped to 107.1, which ranks 19th in the league. But as bad as the Celtics have been, they face a team tonight that has been even worst, as the Wizards come in as the 29th.
  
ROAD WARRIORS
 
This will be the fourth and final meeting between these two teams with each game leaving a bitter taste in the mouth. The road team has emerged with a win in each instance. 

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