Celtics rout Wizards at home, move closer to conference finals

BOSTON—There is no place like home.

The Boston Celtics continued to stay perfect at TD Garden in this series after a resounding 123-101 win over the Washington Wizards in Game 5 Wednesday and moved within a victory of a meeting with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2017 NBA Eastern Conference Finals.

The Celtics snapped a two-game losing skid to the Wizards for a 3-2 lead as they flipped the script, this time taking charge from the beginning like Washington had done to them in the first three games.

Avery Bradley torched the Wizards with 29 points, all but four coming in the first half where he teamed up with Jae Crowder and Al Horford in zapping the energy out of the visiting team early.

“I think the most important thing for us right now is get a great start. Tonight we saw that  if we’re able to start the right way, the game is in our control,” said Bradley, who played through a hip pointer injury he suffered in Games 2 and 4.

Washington had always been able to dictate the pace and force Boston to play catch up even in the Celtics’ first two wins where they overcame a 16-0 lead in Game 1 and 16-8 in Game 2.

But Bradley, whom his teammates had predicted was going to go off tonight, was eager to change things up.

Feeding off of the raucous home crowd, the Celtics jumped to an early double digit lead, 16-4,  then nearly doubled it under four minutes before the half, 55-33, on a fadeaway from Bradley.

Boston still came out firing after the intermission and led by 26 points on a triple from Isaiah Thomas, who had a quiet night offensively, with 8:57 to play to the delight of the hometown crowd which remained on its feet even with the game all but decided.

Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas (4) drives to the basket past Washington Wizards forward Markieff Morris (5) during the second quarter of Game 5 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series, in Boston, Wednesday, May 10, 2017. AP

Horford wound up with 19 markers, six rebounds and seven assists while Crowder, who had eight boards, and Thomas, who had nine assists, each had 18 points.

“I guess that’s how I have to play. As a basketball player you have to deal with what the defense is giving you. They have 2-3 guys at me at all time. So what I tried to do is give other guys space, create space for others and be a good screen setter and open it up for other guys,” said Thomas.

Boston has a chance to wrap it up in Game 6 in Washington but if the series goes into a deciding Game 7, the Celtics have the precious home court edge.

That’s bad news for the Wizards, who continued to struggle at Boston’s famed TD Garden, where they have lost eight straight games.

Thomas, though, knows how dangerous Washington can be in their home floor, which they have managed to protect so far in this series.

“I think we just have to stay in the moment. We know what’s at stake, we know it’s going to be a hostile environment.”

John Wall carried the Wizards, who have not entered the conference Finals since the 1978-1979 season, with 21 points, four rebounds and four dimes while Bradley Beal added 16.

With the Celtics racking up 15 points on the fast break in the first quarter alone, Washington struggled to get any kind of momentum the rest of the way.

“I really don’t think we relaxed. I think they kind of surprised us,” said Wall.

Best player of the game: Avery Bradley pic.twitter.com/I8VpKl2jMM

— INQUIRER Sports (@INQUIRERSports) May 11, 2017

John Wall gives his take on the Wizards' crucial loss on the road. #NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/rFO3K8S6Ti

— INQUIRER Sports (@INQUIRERSports) May 11, 2017

Isaiah Thomas talks about Bradley's performance in Game 5. #NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/KncnGpyaHp

— INQUIRER Sports (@INQUIRERSports) May 11, 2017