CELTICS DOWN BULLS
Clinch victory in East playoff series, advance to second round
AVERY Bradley led a balanced offensive attack as the Boston Celtics advanced to the second round of the NBA playoffs with a 105-83 rout of the Chicago Bulls on Friday.
Bradley led the way with 23 points as all five Celtics starters scored in double figures to close out their best-of-seven Eastern Conference series in six games.
With the victory, the Celtics advance to face the Washington Wizards, who eliminated the Atlanta Hawks with a 115-99 victory earlier on Friday.
Gerald Green tallied 16 points for the Celtics, while Jae Crowder, Isaiah Thomas and Al Horford each scored 12 in the series clinching victory.
Jimmy Butler scored 23 points for the host Bulls, who lost the final four games of the series after taking a 2-0 lead with a pair of lopsided victories in Boston.
Butler posted a team-high point total in game six despite being hampered by a knee problem.
Robin Lopez also scored 10 points for the Bulls.
Bulls star Dwyane Wade appeared to aggravate an elbow injury he suffered late in the regular season. The veteran struggled in Friday’s contest, hitting only one-of-10 shot attempts.
Isaiah Canaan scored nine points, Michael Carter-Williams added eight points off the bench and Paul Zipser had seven for the Bulls.
In Atlanta, guards John Wall and Bradley Beal combined for 73 points and the Wizards easily defeated the Hawks to also clinch their East series four games to two.
“John is a heck of a player,” said Washington coach Scott Brooks. “He’s carried us with his leadership. We have a lot of good players, with his leadership and with Brad’s leadership has been great.
“For young players in this league, I couldn’t ask for two better guys to lead our team.”
Wall scored 20 points in the first half and finished with 42 points, while Beal had 17 in the first half and finished with 31 points.
The dynamic duo completed the series with 332 of the team’s 640 total points in six games — 52 per cent of Washington’s offense.
Washington’s Markieff Morris added 17 points and eight rebounds and Bojan Bogdanovic scored 10 points off the bench.
Paul Millsap led the Hawks with 31 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Dennis Schroder had 26 points and 10 assists while Tim Hardaway added 13.
RESULTS — 1st Round playoffs (best-of-seven series): Eastern Conference: Washington 115 Atlanta 99 (Washington win series 4-2); Boston 105 Chicago 83 (Boston win series 4-2). AFP