Both the Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards just came off big first-round road wins and dove into the Eastern Conference Semifinals fire. Although exhaustion likely played a role in mistakes made by both teams, the Cs outlasted shooting barrages and low-post brutality with highlight-reel performances by their headlining stars, to take an auspicious win and lead in the series. This one’s gonna get weird, folks.
THE GAME FLOW
The first second-round series in the Brad Stevens Era did…not start great. All the Wizards’ weapons were displayed early–the shooting of Otto Porter, the muscle of Marcin Gortat and Markieff Morris and John Wall’s superlative playmaking–to fuel a brutal 16-0 run in the first four minutes of Q1.