Guards are key to Game 7
Boston Celtics coach BOSTON Brad Stevens had three words for his team after losing to the Washington Wizards in Game 6.
“Game 7 Monday,” he told his players.
This is the second Game 7 of the 2017 NBA playoffs, and much is on the line for both teams.
The finale of the Eastern Conference semifinal series is Monday (8 p.m. ET, TNT), with the winner advancing to play the Cleveland Cavaliers in the conference finals.
For the Celtics, it’s a chance to prove they were the best regularseason team in the Eastern Conference and should be playing in the conference finals.
For the Wizards, it’s a chance to reduce the sporting gloom left by another early NHL playoff exit by the hometown Capitals and remind opponents they had the second-best record in the East from Dec. 1 on.
The participants agreed this series needed a seventh game. Here are five things to watch for in Game 7.
THE BACKCOURT BATTLE The four best players on the court are the starting guards: Washington’s John Wall and Bradley Beal and Boston’s Isaiah Thomas and Avery Bradley.
Beal and Wall, who combined for 59 points in Friday’s Game 6 victory, need to be on their games from the start. If Wall has four or more assists in the first quarter and Beal is making three-pointers, you know the Wizards have their offense going.
The Wizards have tried to make scoring difficult for Thomas, sending two or three players to prevent him from shooting. That puts pressure on other players, and Bradley has responded. But it will be hard for Boston to win if Thomas doesn’t score at least 20 points.
COACHING By this point, each team knows what the other wants to do. Players will decide the outcome, but it doesn’t mean Stevens and Wizards coach Scott Brooks won’t have an impact: a well-designed play after a timeout that yields a made shot; a timeout to stop a run; finding the right lineup against the opposing lineup; or finding a play that works and exploiting the defense.
THE THREE-BALL The Wizards need to make threes and can’t repeat Game 6, when they were 3-for-21 on threes late in the fourth quarter. Granted, Beal and Wall each made a three in the final 69 seconds, but it will be difficult to win Game 7 on the road shooting like that. The Wizards are shooting 31.4% on threes in the series. Getting closer to 40% could push Washington into the conference finals.
ROLE PLAYERS After the starting guards, who is going to make a difference? Boston’s bench scored five points in Game 6. Will it be Celtics guard Marcus Smart or forward Jae Crowder? Washington forward Otto Porter Jr. didn’t score in Game 6. The Wizards need offense from him or forward Bojan Bogdanovic off the bench with his three-point shot.
GAME 7 HISTORY The home team owns an overwhelming success rate in Game 7s: 101-26 (79.5%). However, it’s not hopeless for Washington. In the NBA’s last two Game 7s, the road team won: Utah beat the Los Angeles Clippers this season and Cleveland beat the Golden State Warriors in last season’s Finals.