Celtics outlast Wizards, advance to East final
Thomas, Olynyk lead the way as Boston takes Game 7 over Washington at home • Cavs up next
Bring on Lebron.
the Boston Celtics’ season is officially, unequivocally a success after they somehow were able to dispatch of the pesky, tough Washington Wizards monday night in a riveting Game 7 win, 115-105.
this one delivered a little of everything – as Game 7s are wont to do – but anyone who predicted what unfolded on this night is lying. With Bradley Beal morphing into michael jordan and tossing in 38 points, the Celtics watched a 13-point fourth quarter lead melt to four. But that’s when a most unlikely hero caught fire and saved the Green team.
needing a shot in the arm, Kelly olynyk tossed in 14 fourth-quarter points and stole the show. his startling contribution combined with yet another superb Isaiah thomas showing (29 points) and the Celtics were able to move on from a series that was about as even as the NBA can produce.
their reward is a date with Lebron james and the Cleveland Cavaliers. the eastern Conference finals will tip at td Garden in Boston on Wednesday night.
the Cavs will be heavy favorites to move through the Cetics with ease, but that doesn’t bother a team that some saw ready to lose in the first round to the Chicago Bulls.
“We got the number one seed and they didn’t give us a chance,” said thomas. “that’s okay. We believe in each other and we feel like a lot of people have counted us out. We have more work to do.”
Before Boston fans move on to james, Kyrie Irving and Kevin love, it’s best to consider the boatload of key contributions needed to beat the Wizards. First off the uneducated NBA fan received a full dissertation on the talents of Beal and john Wall.
the league’s best young backcourt threw a lot at the Celts but Brad stevens’ team saw key efforts not only from thomas and olynyk, but role players like marcus smart and jaylen Brown under Game 7’s glare.
“Going down six points in the third quarter we stayed the course,” stevens said, “and just made the next right play.”
Both teams went out of their way to dismiss any pre-game, Game 7 jitters. that’s baloney, of course. Both rosters are filled with young vets who’ve never had to make a shot with the season hanging in the balance. Game 7 has a way of emphasizing clutch performers and revealing pretenders.
If anything the Wizards held an edge in that department because they were in danger of cleaning out their lockers after Game 6.
“We’ve already faced a do-or-die situation. this is our second must-win game of the year,” Wizards coach scott Brooks said before the game.
the Wizards’ stars didn’t start quickly. Wall deferred too much and chose to kick to the three-point line instead of forcing his own scoring.
Beal started 1-of-6 from the floor but he’s much too good of a shooter to stay cold. he made a push late in the half to finish with 14 and help the Wiz to a 55-53 lead at the break.
Washington went up 70-64 early in the third as Beal caught fire ,but by the end of the quarter thomas and smart combined for three three-pointers and Boston led 85-79. When olynyk joined in the fun and started dropping threes in the fourth, the Celtics were running away, 94-81. the Wizards came back to make it 101-97 but the thomas/olynyk combo was just too much.
“the thing you have to be is to be at your best when your best is needed,” olynyk said. “We kind of outlasted them there.” locking up the series brings all sorts of good things the Celtics’ way. First of all any talk of whether this season was a “successful” one for the Celts is toast.
stevens has now shown he can win a touch-and-go playoff showdown, no small task in today’s NBA. he made just enough moves to steer the Celts past the Bulls and Wizards, the first two playoff victories of his young pro coaching career.
no one sees the Celtics as championship timbre but the experience of facing james, Irving and love in a playoff setting is priceless. don’t listen to the negative losers who say there’s nothing to gain from showing up and getting swept by the champion Cavs. every other team in the eastern Conference would trade spots with the Celtics this morning.
“I’ve seen them play before,” stevens said when asked to preview the Celtics’ first eastern finals since 2012.
“I think they’re better than any of the four times we played them, including the last time when they smashed us. We’re going to have to play really well. But what a special opportunity it is to get a chance to compete against them.”