Boston Celtics take back series lead from Washington Wizards

With two straight losses on the mind’s of the Boston Celtics, an early response was in order to get back on track. The Celtics used the urgency and the power of the crowd to go up on the scoreboard right out of the gates in game five. The team and crowd never looked back as Boston cruised to a 123-101 victory.

Boston Celtics 123 – Washington Wizards 101

Washington scored the first four points in the game, but that turned out to be their only lead of the game. Boston went on to end the quarter on a 33-17 run and found a comfortable lead early. The lead never dwindled for the rest of the game.

The Celtics needed more from their supporting cast. Isiah Thomas had been blanketed by the Wizards defense over the last two Wizards wins which tied the series at 2-2 for Washington. Preferably, Boston needed their perimeter shooters to step up. They found what they were looking for in Avery Bradley. He scored a playoff career-high 29 points on 12-of-19 shooting. Al Horford contributed with 19 points and found seven assists as he runs a major part of the offense while playing center. Thomas found himself nine assists in the game thanks to the sharpshooting from Bradley and Horford. With the series going back to Washington, the other Celtics’ players need to continue playing well.

Washington looked like a completely different team than the one that tied the series at home after going down 0-2. There was not the same level of intensity from their players and it is hard to understand why. Is it the coaching? No home crowd? Or are they just taking the night off? John Wall still scored 21 points but only found four assists. He passed the ball to the Wizards sharp shooters but they struggled from deep with a 24.1 three-point percentage as a team. The Wizards missed out on a great opportunity to knock a team down while they are down after the beat Boston twice in a row. Now, they face a must-win game at home. If they survive game six, they’ll have to find a way to win in Boston in order to advance. Every home team has won in this series. Boston will get their chance to break the streak in game six on Saturday.