Celtics rout Wizards on home court to take series lead
BOSTON: The Boston Celtics continued their home court mastery over Washington, taking charge early and going on to beat the Wizards 123-101 Wednesday to grab a 3-2 lead in the second round series.
Avery Bradley tallied a postseason career high 29 points in the blowout as Boston can now advance to meet the Cleveland Cavaliers in the next round with a victory Friday in Washington.
“Everyone was prepared,” said Bradley. “And that's what it's all about.”
The Celtics and Wizards have played nine times this year, and the home team has won all nine games. Boston has now won eight straight overall at the Boston Garden over Washington.
The Celtics got on an early 16-0 run and never looked back. Their first quarter burst came after the Wizards scored the first four points of the game.
Bradley, who is playing with a sore hip, scored 25 points in the first half as the Celtics compiled a 22-point halftime lead.
“He put his injuries aside and laced his shoes up and played,” teammate Isaiah Thomas said of Bradley. “He was the key to this game at both ends of the floor.”
Bradley hit his last basket with 5:55 left in the third quarter and rested in the fourth.
Al Horford finished with 19 points and added seven assists and six rebounds for INDEPENDENCE, Ohio: As the sports world salivates while awaiting a seemingly inevitable NBA Finals, Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue is keeping his undefeated team focused on its next unknown opponent. And keeping an eye on the Warriors. “I’m always watching,” Lue said. "I'm watching everybody."
But maybe that Northern California team a little more.
With both Cleveland and Golden State at 8-0 in these playoffs and on a collision course toward a potential third straight Finals, there has been heated debate about whether Cavaliers-Warriors 3.0 is good for basketball.
It is the first time two teams have swept through the first two rounds, and with the way the Cavaliers and Warriors are playing, it does not seem to matter who they will face once the conference finals get going.
Lue is not overlooking Boston or Washington, one of which will play Cleveland next, but he is not buying into this notion that a third helping of Cavaliers vs. Warriors is somehow a hoops overindulgence.
“I think a lot of people wanted to see Boston and the Lakers back in the day,” he said. “I think nowadays, a lot of people want to see Golden State-Cavs. And it’s not a problem. Right now, it’s two of the teams playing some of the best basketball. So, two of the teams that have been in back-to-back Finals, so, why not?” “Why not want to see it again?” Draymond Green has no objection. “I know as a basketball fan that’s what I’d want to see,” Golden State’s loquacious forward said. “You hear all the talk about it. You know it's there, but we’ve got four more Boston. Thomas and Jae Crowder both scored 18, Thomas with nine assists and Crowder with eight rebounds. Thomas scored eight consecutive points in the fourth with Bradley on the bench.
Thomas said the coaching staff did a good job of getting them ready for game five.
“We just wanted to impose our will,” said Thomas. “The coaches kept saying that, ‘Impose your will.’ We were the more physical team tonight.”
“We took what was on the whiteboard and we put it on the court,”
The Celtics went 16-for-33 from beyond the arc and became the sixth team in NBA history with at least 10 three pointers in six straight postseason.
John Wall led the Wizards with 21 points, and Bradley Beal had 16 and Otto Porter added 13.
The Wizard guards combined to go just 14 of 36 from the floor, two of seven from three-point range.
“When you give a very good team transition points and breakaway points with nobody guarding you ... it’s going to be hard to keep up with them,” Washington coach Scott Brooks said. “We had no answers for those guys. We’ve done a pretty good job on their best player, but not (a) good enough job on the other guys.”
If the Celtics win Friday, they would open against Cleveland on Monday. If the Boston-Washington series goes seven games, the winner meets the Cavaliers next Wednesday. games to win before we can reach an NBA Finals. ... We’ve got to stay locked in and focused on the now. If that happens, it happens. I know we’ve got to take care of our business and I'm sure they think the same way.”
Following two days off after sweeping Toronto in the second round, the Cavaliers got back in the gym on Wednesday to work on some defensive schemes and push through conditioning drills while DJ Steph Floss, who spins records during games at Quicken Loans Arena, filled the facility with thumping music.
It is the same routine the Cavs have used while going 16-0 in the first two rounds the past two years, so Lue is not changing much.
“We’re just sticking to it and I think with the DJ, it just gives them a different look and it gives guys motivation to work out to the music and just something different,” he said. “I don’t know, it’s worked the last couple years for us, so we're just going to continue to do it.”
Winning has worked as well, and after staggering to the finish line in the regular season, LeBron James and the Cavaliers have taken their game to another level.
James, who will be appearing in his ninth Eastern Conference finals in 14 years next week, has never been better. He is averaging 34.4 points — up 8.1 over last year — with 9.0 rebounds and 7.1 assists in eight games. The extra rest between series has kept him fresh, and the 32-year-old seems extra motivated following a regular season in which Russell Westbrook and James Harden dominated the MVP conversation because of the triple-double exploits.