Celtics cruise past Wizards in Game 7 to Eastern Conference finals

“It’s a travesty, I think”. But it will be hard to win Game 7 on the road shooting like that.

Thanks to a big night from oafish backup center guy Kelly Olynyk, the Boston Celtics took Game 7 from the Washington Wizards tonight, 115-105, and won the honor of trying to stop LeBron James and the Cavs.

“I don’t care how well I played”, Beal said afterward.

Bradley Beal was sensational in the second half, finishing with 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting. When his team needed him most in the fourth quarter, Wall responded with not making a single field goal in the quarter. Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas led the way with 29 points and 12 assists. Thomas and Horford dominated. Markieff Morris got right in his face and Olynyk still nailed nearly everything he threw up. Wall couldn’t do it all and Washington’s bad bench was his and the team’s ultimate undoing.

The Celtics All-Star will get his first chance to do the same on Monday night when Boston hosts the Washington Wizards with a trip to the Eastern Conference finals at stake.

For the Wizards, their Eastern finals drought continues. Boston was hammered by Cleveland in a statement game late in the season. The Celtics continued their dominance of the Wizards in Boston, beating Washington for the ninth straight time, dating to 2014.

“This was tougher because it was Game 7”, Wall said. Down just six points, head coach Scott Brooks must have known it was danger time anyway. That started a run for the Wizards, which included Amir Johnson picking up his second foul.

The Boston Celtics’ bench managed only five points in their Game 6 loss to the Washington Wizards.

And before Game 7, Olynyk totaled 26 points in his previous three games combined. “End of the third quarter was big for us”.

Olynyk had entered the game averaging only 8.3 points per game in the playoffs but delivered a career-high playoff performance when it mattered. Let all of that sink in, and then take in the next part.

But the Celtics opened up a 13-point lead early in the fourth quarter in what had been a mostly back-and-forth game to that point. It starts with Jae Crowder, who is expected to be the primary defender on James, along with reserve Jaylen Brown.

The rest of the first half was back-and-forth, with teams exchanging offensive spurts.

Here are some takeaways from the Wizards’ 95th and final game of the season.

The answer will come Monday night, when the series comes down to one game. Without a single rest in the second half, he tried to lift the Wizards onto his back – and, man, he nearly did.

Celtics: Improved to 22-8 all-time in Game 7s and 19-4 all-time at home. Boston also connected on 11 3-pointers, including 8 of 13 in the second half. Kelly Olynyk’s two free throws put the Celtics up 10. Wall made only 1-of-8 three-point attempts and stumbled with three turnovers. The bevy of role players on the team have seen their roles and playing time shift throughout the series.

Pachulia’s reaction? “I don’t agree with the calls that I’m a dirty player”.

John Wall was nowhere to be found in the final quarter-plus of Game 7 against the Boston Celtics.