BOSTON — The Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards will play the second Game 7 of the 2017 NBA playoffs Monday night at TD Garden with the winner earning the right to play the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals.
FINAL, Celtics 115-105
The Celtics will host LeBron James and the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals. It’s their first conference finals appearance since 2012.
Fourth quarter, 1:01, 112-103 Celtics: A Jae Crowder fastbreak layup off an Avery Bradley steal might have sealed this one.
Fourth quarter, 3:25, 110-100 Celtics: Kelly Olynyk has turned into vintage Ray Allen from 3-point land.
Fourth quarter, 5:46, 103-97 Celtics: Bradley Beal hit two 3-pointers, with a Kelly Olynyk 3-pointer for Boston in between. Beal now has 37 points, and Olynyk has a career playoff high of 21 points.
There’s also this.
Fourth quarter, 8:49, 94-88 Celtics: A quick 7-0 run by the Wizards has them right back in it, and forced the Celtics to take a timeout.
Fourth quarter, 9:43, 94-81 Celtics: Marcus Smart’s incredible defense forced a turnover by Bradley Beal.
Then Isaiah Thomas came down and nailed another 3-point basket. Boston now has its largest lead of the game.
Fourth quarter, 11:35, 87-79 Celtics: Marcus Smart opened the fourth quarter with a basket.
End of third quarter, 85-79 Celtics
The Celtics closed the third quarter on a 9-0 run.
Third quarter, 0:10, 85-79: Back-to-back 3-pointers from Isaiah Thomas and Marcus Smart have given the C’s a late lead in the third quarter.
Third quarter, 1:12, 79-79: Isaiah Thomas hit two free throws to tie the score, then John Wall came down and hit a 3-point shot. Thomas answered with a 3-point field goal of his own on the ensuing possession.
Third quarter, 4:55, 72-72: A 3-point shot from Marcus Smart and a sweet reverse alley-oop by Jaylen Brown tied the game for the Celtics.
Third quarter, 6:11, 70-64 Wizards: Al Horford tied the game 64-64 with a 3-point shot, but the Wizards then went on a 6-0 run for their largest lead of the night.
Third quarter, 11:35, 57-53 Wizards: Bradley Beal opens the second half with a midrange shot.
End of first half, 55-53 Wizards
Boston didn’t tally a single offensive rebound in the first half and also shot just 25 percent from 3-point land. You could argue the C’s are a little lucky to be trailing by just two.
Second quarter, 0:10, 53-53: Marcus Smart made an incredible block in transition that saved a basket, then got fouled and made two free throws. It was a crucial four-point swing.
Second quarter, 0:49, 53-51 Wizards: A midrange make by John Wall and a free throw by Markieff Morris has given Washington a late second-quarter edge.
Second quarter, 2:32, 48-45 Celtics: A nice layup from Isaiah Thomas maintained Boston’s lead.
Second quarter, 3:42, 44-41 Celtics: A pair of Otto Porter Jr. free throws trimmed the Celtics’ lead to three as Isaiah Thomas checked back into the game.
Second quarter, 6:24, 40-36 Celtics: A driving layup by Isaiah Thomas was immediately followed by a steal by Terry Rozier, who found Jae Crowder for an easy layup. Rozier had just checked into the game off the C’s bench.
Second quarter, 10:11, 31-25 Celtics: Isaiah Thomas found a wide open Kelly Olynyk under the basket for an easy layup, which prompted the Wizards to take a timeout.
End of first quarter, 27-23 Celtics: A three-point play on a hard drive to the basket by Kelly Olynyk gave Boston a four-point lead after 12 minutes. Olynyk scored five points in six minutes off the bench in the first quarter.
The Celtics were called for seven fouls in the opening quarter, compared to two for the Wizards. Washington had a slight 10-9 edge on the boards.
The C’s shot 47.4 percent from the field, including a 3-for-9 mark from beyond the arc. The Wiz shot 40 percent and went 1-for-5 from 3-point range.
First quarter, 1:58, 24-17 Celtics: A corner 3-point shot from Jaylen Brown, who just came in off the C’s bench, increased Boston’s lead. He drove to the basket on the next Boston possession and was fouled. Brown converted on both free throws.
On an unrelated note, four Celtics turnovers have resulted in seven points for the Wiz.
First quarter, 3:30, 17-14 Celtics: Kelly Olynyk threads a nice pass to Avery Bradley, who converts a layup off a backdoor cut to increase the Celtics’ lead.
First quarter, 6:05, 10-10: A three-point play by Bradley Beal extends the Wizards’ run to 8-0, and we have a tie game.
First quarter, 8:51, 8-2 Celtics: Avery Bradley hits a wide-open 3-point shot and the Wizards call timeout. Washington is 1-for-5 from the field so far.
First quarter, 11:23, 3-0 Celtics: Isaiah Thomas hits three free throws to open the scoring.
First quarter, 12:00, 0-0: The Celtics have won the tip and we’re underway!
8:10 p.m.: Here are the starting lineups.
Celtics
PG: Isaiah Thomas
SG: Avery Bradley
SF: Jae Crowder
PF: Al Horford
C: Amir Johnson
Wizards
PG: John Wall
SG: Bradley Beal
SF: Otto Porter Jr.
PF: Markieff Morris
C: Marcin Gortat
7:53 p.m.: The Celtics and Wizards have taken the floor for warmups. Tip-off is scheduled for just after 8 p.m. ET. Celtics coach Brad Stevens confirmed earlier this evening that he’ll use the same starting five as Game 6 (Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder, Al Horford, Amir Johnson).
7:33 p.m. ET: Wizards guard Bradley Beal was busy pregame perfecting his shooting stroke.
Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images
