Some had pegged the Washington Wizards winning this series. John Wall had been playing incredible the past few games and after that heroic performance in Game 6 at home, it seemed like the Wiz had the momentum going for them. The only thing was, the home team had not lost a game throughout this matchup. So, the Boston Celtics had that on their side.
TD Garden was electric for Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals and for good reason.
Isaiah Thomas had been kept in check for a good amount of the series, to the Celtics needed the other players to step up if they had any chance against Bradley Beal and Wall.
Fortunately for the C’s, not only did IT4 have a game, but their bench did too. They outscored the Wizards bench 48-5 with strong performances from Kelly Olynyk and Marcus Smart.
Who would have thought Olynyk would be the hero of the game for Boston? Absolutely nobody.
Washington had a chance to win but things crumbled for them in the fourth quarter when Thomas and the Celtics went on a crazy 18-2 run and cruised all the way to the win.
Beal had a monster game, dropping 38 points on Boston at home, but Wall only contributed with 18 points of his own. Otto Porter Jr. was the second leading scorer with 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Markieff Morris also had 18 points and 9 rebounds.
On the other side of the ball, Thomas had a team-high 29 points and 12 assists. The unexpected hero of Game 7, Olynyk, had 26 points off the bench. Al Horford and Jae Crowder had 15 points and 14 points respectively, while Smart had 13 off the bench as well.
The Celtics will now face the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals
FINAL: BOS 115 | WAS 105