Guards help Celtics pull away from Bulls

Isaiah Thomas and Avery Bradley scored 24 points apiece to help the Boston Celtics beat the Chicago Bulls 108-97 on Wednesday night and take a 3-2 lead in their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series.

After the road team won each of the first four games, the Celtics won at home in Game 5 to earn a chance to eliminate the Bulls on Friday night in Chicago. A Bulls victory would force the series back to Boston for a decisive Game 7 on Sunday.

Bradley’s 24 points were a career playoff high and he held Bulls star Jimmy Butler to 14 points.

“Everyone knows he’s a good defender. Tonight, he got his offensive game going,” Chicago’s Dwyane Wade said of Bradley. “You expect him to do what he does defensively, but we gave up 24 points to him tonight. He hurt us offensively tonight more than anything.”

Wade had 26 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, but he 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 three-pointer and then Horford fed Jae Crowder for a layup that made it 108-95 with 99 seconds to play.

at Washington 103, Atlanta 99: Back at home, and back in charge, Bradley Beal scored 27 points, and John Wall added 20 points and 14 assists, leading the Wizards to a 3-2 lead in their firstround Eastern series.

Dennis Schroder led the Hawks with 29 points and 11 assists. But after his basket from beyond the arc pulled Atlanta within 101-99 with 70 seconds left, Wall responded with a 21-foot jumper.

A miss followed from Paul Millsap, who had 21 points and 11 rebounds, but after Wall’s jumper was off the mark, the Hawks seemed to waste too much time at the other end and the buzzer sounded.

“I thought they were going to play the foul game — or at least try to trap. But they let us run the clock down,” Wall said.

Said Schroder: “It was right there. We’ve just got to be better in crunch time.”

CJ Gunther European Pressphoto Agency CELTICS GUARD Isaiah Thomas gets around the Bulls’ Jimmy Butler for a shot during the second half. Thomas and the Celtics are a win away from advancing.