Bradley Stuns Wizards as Celtics Win-Lead Series 3-2

“That’s something that Brad put emphasis on in the recent practices and shootarounds that we had”, said Bradley, who scored a career playoff high 29 points in Game 5. Game 6 is Friday night in Washington, where the Wizards easily won their two games.

Boston’s early run came after the Wizards scored the game’s first four points. Boston’s offense executed at a high level all night against an opponent dedicated to slowing down Isaiah Thomas, and the little guy did a great job getting the offense going in the opening frame with five assists (Thomas had nine for the game).

In Game 5 between the Wizards and Celtics, there was one point where the game was tied, and one point where there was a lead change.

The Celtics’ lead grew to 26 points in the fourth quarter.

“Everyone was prepared”, said Bradley. “We know it’s going to be tough to get a win out there but if we lock in like we did tonight, limit our turnovers, limit their transitions, that gives us the best chance of winning that game”. In their three wins, the Celtics have taken 20 percent of their shots in the first six seconds of the shot clock.

So how did the Celtics bounce back from their horrific road losses to suck the life out of the Wizards after only one quarter?

Thomas took the lead during the last quarter where Bradley was sitting on the bench as he scored eight consecutive points.

“I’ve never seen runs like that before”, Isaiah Thomas told reporters after an embarrassing Game 4 loss.

The blueprint for the Celtics has always been to force anyone else to beat you not named Isaiah Thomas. He shot 12-19 from the field and went 4-7 from 3 and on a couple occasions attacked the Wizards’ lazy defense with back-cuts that turned into wide-open looks at the rim.

Clothing jokes aside, the Celtics entered Game 5 looking to sharpen their cuts and better space the floor. It’s just basically what we’ve been doing and just trying, you know, to get the ball out of his hands. Monday, I want to get back here – we have to get back here – so we have to take care of business at home and get back here so I can hear my name some more. Two minutes later, the Celtics went up 5-4 and that was as close as the Wizards would get in Game 5. “We didn’t have the focus we had to have going into this game”.

Fan support and familiarity with the court can help explain why teams perform better at home, however if there’s a far deeper meaning behind a home-court advantage, then Brooks has yet to find one.

Celts become the sixth team in National Basketball Association history to hit at least 10 3-pointers in six straight playoff games. The duo combined to score 37 points, but needed 36 shots to do so. The Wizards 3-point shooting has been a problem in the playoffs, with the team down at 32 percent through 11 playoff games after hitting 37 percent during the regular season.

Oubre will receive a much warmer welcome when the Wizards return to the friendly confines of Verizon Center for Friday’s Game 6.

“We had no answers for those guys”, Washington coach Scott Brooks said.

After falling behind by two games, the Celtics dispatched the Bulls by taking four straight, including an elimination game in Chicago.