BOSTON — Kelly Oubre Jr. watched Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals with his father, sister and dogs. His one-game suspension for a post-whistle bull charge of Boston big man Kelly Olynyk forced him into watching with family. Oubre’s father reminded him during the game that he was not supposed to be watching a playoff game with his father.
Oubre will be back on the floor with the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night. He completed Wednesday morning shootaround in TD Garden with a diamond-studded band in his right ear. Streams of sweat came down his face when he looked around to ask what capacity is in Boston’s home arena, where he will be booed with vigor Wednesday night in pivotal Game 5 of a 2-2 series.
“Worry about what I’m here to do and what’s going to help me feed my family,” Oubre said. “I’m happy to be in the situation, honestly. I’m 21 years old — how many people can you fit in here? — lot of people are going to be booing me tonight, so they know who I am. Definitely a blessing.”
Oubre said he has been booed when he played his single season at Kansas. In particular, he was targeted, like all Kansas players, at Kansas State. A visit to the “Octagon of Doom” in Manhattan, Kansas, brought out the anger.
“They got a whole student section that hates your guts,” Oubre said. “They want you dead. So, you know, shout out to Kansas State. Rock chalk, man.”
Oubre said last week that he lost his composure in Game 3 after being struck in the head repeatedly by Olynyk. Oubre was asked Wednesday if he thought Olynyk is a dirty player.
“I mean, no comment,” Oubre said.
The alignment between Oubre’s impact on the series and Boston’s disdain toward him is off. Oubre is last, by a massive margin, in net rating among Wizards players in the playoffs. His -26.7 rating is more than double that of Brandon Jennings, who is -12.6. Oubre also had by far the team’s poorest defensive rating, a whopping 124.1. He has the second-worst offensive rating among Washington rotation players. Jason Smith is just slightly poorer than Oubre.
Oubre has shot the ball better against Boston than he did against Atlanta in the opening playoff series. His field-goal percentage against Atlanta was 33.3 percent. It’s 52.4 against Boston. He’s also part of the Wizards rotation that attempts to stymie Boston point guard Isaiah Thomas. However, in the two games Thomas scored frequently, Oubre played. In the two games in Washington when Thomas was stopped, Oubre played just five minutes total.
• Todd Dybas can be reached at tdybas@washingtontimes.com.
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