A loss would send the series back to Boston for a Game 7 on Monday, where the victor goes on to play LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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As well as the Celtics played, they know they too must improve upon their Game 5 performance knowing Game 6, their first shot at closing out this series, will easily be the toughest game of this series to win. After getting blown out in Game 5, Washington is back to being a 5.5-point favorite in Game 6, via OddsShark. Avery Bradley scored a playoff career-high 29 points to lead the Celtics. Isaiah Thomas, the team’s lone All-Star, played the role of facilitator Wednesday, attempting only 13 shots en route his 18 points and 9 assists.
Boston’s early run came after the Wizards scored the game‘s first four points.
Washington had a 16-0 spurt to start game one, a 22-0 run in game three and 26-0 burst in game four.
Oubre returned to action in Game 5 after serving a suspension in Game 4 for charging at the Celtics’ Kelly Olynyk and knocking him to the ground by burying his forearm in the big man’s chest in Game 3. Look for a dominant game from Wall to will his team to a victory while extending their playoff lives to a Game 7 in Boston. “We knew that they were going to come out aggressive and they did”. The away team has been largely uncompetitive in nearly every contest, and the location of Game 6 might be the biggest factor when making a prediction for Friday night.
John Wall’s deflections per 48 minutes in this series drop from 8.9 at home to 2.4 on the road, but that could be by design.
Even though his team is averaging about 30 more points in Boston than in Washington during this series, Celtics coach Brad Stevens insisted that the venue isn’t the most important factor in a game’s outcome. But the Washington guards combined to go 14 of 36 from the floor and two of seven from three-point range.
Al Horford, another best player of Boston, finished the game with 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists. In Boston’s three wins, Wall has a plus/minus of minus-17.
I’ve been riding the Celtics every game in this series and throughout the playoffs overall, and it’s paid off with them covering seven of their last nine games. On Wednesday, the Wizards completely forgot their fundamentals, losing to the Boston Celtics, 123-101, in Game 5, and plunging into a perilous hole. “He was the key to this game at both ends of the floor”. Thomas feels his team is ready to take the next step. That being said, weve still got to play well. All the really good players in this league, it’s hard to stop because they get so many opportunities each and every night.
Thomas added: “I’ve only been in one (closeout game) – I mean, us winning a closeout game”.
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John Wall has scored 20+ points in all 11 playoff games, averaging 28.1 points per game this postseason. With his defender hugging him and refusing to leave him – the Wizards pick Thomas up full-court as a way of taking the ball out of his hands immediately – the Celtics can use that to their advantage by forcing other defenders to wiggle their way around a screen or to draw the attention of multiple defenders as opposed to just one or two.
