Boston fulfilled expectations, but what’s next?
The Boston Celtics outlasted the Washington Wizards in their Eastern Conference Semifinals, but what lies ahead for the men in green?
The Washington Wizards and Boston Celtics squared up in an old fashion, 1 vs. 4 Eastern Conference Semifinal, where everything went according to the bookmakers.
The Celtics were the higher seed, so they had four out of seven games at home. The Wizards would have the remaining three. Just like the oddsmakers predicted, the home team would win every game as well as the resulting favorite(s).
This series was a slugfest. It went seven games, but each one had their own “twist” per-say.
The first two games, the Wizards would display early dominance, but fail to hold on to big leads. It would be a community effort which would lead Boston to a 123-111 lead, even after the early runs by the Wizards.
The second game, it would be all Isaiah Thomas as the little man went to work. In the overtime classic, Thomas would drop 53 points paired with four assists and four rebounds. He would also score a combined a 27 between the 4th quarter and overtime.
Games 3 and 4 would be all Washington from start to finish. The Wizards wowed their home fans and many others who thought that this series had flipped to John Wall and his squad. Game 5 would be back at home for Boston, and like the latter two games, it would be all the home team.
Game 6 is the game where the away team had a sliver of hope of winning the game, and in Boston’s case, closing out the series. It would be the Celtics game to lose for most of the second half, and that is exactly what they did.
A run late by Washington would see the Celtics only be up two with 7.7 remaining. John Wall would then pull at the hash mark for the jumper seen below, drain it, and take the series to a deciding 7th game.
Game 7 was pretty anti-climatic. It was back and forth all game until about the early fourth. Boston would go on a large run which saw them go by up double-digits, and they wouldn’t look back. Washington would try and chip away, bringing the lead down to at one point 6, but their push was never enough.
Boston would show how valuable home court advantage is in the playoffs by advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals by only win winning their four home games.
Note: John Wall scores zero points and went 0-11 (0-7 from 3) in the last 19 minutes of Game 7.
Cleveland Is Up Next
This may be blunt, but the Boston Celtics do not match up well with the Cleveland Cavaliers. They don’t have any true big bodies to help out with Tristan Thompson down low and on the glass and, of course, LeBron James.
Furthermore, the Cavs have a similar quality bench and a flat out better starting unit. The Celtics are drastic underdogs, which is OK because it was expected.
It is going to be very tough for Boston to steal any more than two games in this series, and it’s going to take a miracle to win the series, even with 4 of the 7 games being played at the TD Garden.
LeBron James is something out of a fairytale and has looked better than ever in his eight playoff games thus far.
Boston has their hands full.
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A Successful Season And Bright Future Regardless
Regardless of the outcome, the Boston Celtics have had a successful season thus far. If they make it to the NBA Finals, they will have surpassed every expectation and then some. If they lose to the Cavaliers, which is highly likely, this season won’t have been anything close to a failure.
Obtaining the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference with this young of a roster and core is no easy feat, especially when they lack your traditional superstar.
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Brad Stevens has done a hell of a job with these boys. Better yet, the Celtics look forward to having the No. 1 pick in the 2017 draft along with enough cap space for another max deal. Other than whoever wins the NBA finals, I don’t think anyone has it better than Boston right now.