Wizards back on top in series
Celtics regain control in battle with Bulls
WASHINGTON: The Washington Wizards regained control of their first round NBA play-off series, defeating the Atlanta Hawks 103-99 on Wednesday with the help of a 27-point performance by Bradley Beal.
John Wall delivered 20 points and 14 assists as the fourth seeded Wizards led the best of seven Eastern Conference series three games to two.
In the later game, the Boston Celtics used a fourth quarter run to defeat the Chicago Bulls 109-97 and take a 3-2 lead in their series.
Otto Porter scored 17 points and sank nine of 10 free throws for the Wizards, who offset another poor shooting night from the three point line by making 22 of 27 free throws.
The Hawks, who won games three and four at home by an average margin of 14 points, host game six on Sunday.
The Wizards are seeking to become the first road team to win a game this series.
“We know that we just gave up two games [in Atlanta],” Beal said. “At home we have a different edge about ourselves and we’re more locked in. We have to have the same approach down in Atlanta.”
Dennis Schroder had 29 points and 11 assists for the fifth-seeded Hawks.
Paul Millsap finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds and Tim Hardaway scored 15 points for the Hawks, who shot 41 percent from the field and 14 of 21 from the free throw line.
The Wizards game plan was to double team Millsap, who still managed to score at least 19 points for the fifth straight game.
“We tried to put pressure on him,” Porter said. “We definitely wanted to get it out of his hands early and go from there.”
Schroder’s fifth three-pointer cut the Wizards’ lead to 101-99 with 70 seconds remaining, but Wall answered with a jump shot on Washington’s next possession. The Hawks missed their final two attempts from the field.
In Boston, Isaiah Thomas and Avery Bradley scored 24 points each to help the Boston Celtics beat the Chicago Bulls 108-97 on Wednesday night and take a 3-2 lead in their first-round play-off series.
After the road team won each of the first four games, the Celtics won at home in game five to earn a chance to eliminate the Bulls today night in Chicago. A Bulls victory would force the series back to Boston for a decisive game seven on Sunday.
Dwyane Wade had 26 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists for Chicago.
But Wade and Robin Lopez were called for technical fouls 32 seconds apart with just under five minutes left, helping the Celtics to a 20-5 run that turned an 84-84 game into a 15-point Boston lead.
The Bulls cut it to nine before Al Horford got loose for a dunk, Wade missed a 3-pointer and then Horford fed Jae Crowder for a lay-up that made it 108-95 with 99 seconds to play.
Despite the technical fouls, there was little of the tension that characterised game four, when Jimmy Butler and Marcus Smart got in each other’s face on the court and continued the criticism in their postgame comments.
Horford had 21 points, nine assists and seven rebounds for Boston, which entered the play-offs as the No.1 seed in the East. The Celtics lost the first two games at home — with game one just a day after Thomas’ sister died in a car crash.
After Bulls point guard Rajon Rondo broke his thumb, though, the Celtics took games three and four in Chicago to tie the series.