Celtics head coach Brad Stevens talks to Jaylen Brown #7, Jae Crowder #99, Marcus Smart #36, Al Horford #42 during a time out in the second half of Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Wizards at TD Garden on May 10, 2017 in Boston, Massachusetts. Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
They showed up, and they showed the best of themselves. After debacles, plural, in Washington, the Celtics found themselves back at home at TD Garden for Game 5 . . . and they found themselves at home in all the important ways. They showed up, virtually all of them, reenergized and determined. Every Celtic you hoped would deliver did so, immediately and all night, time and again.
It turns out the Celtics don’t need Isaiah Thomas to drop 53 points for them to have a chance to win after all. Thomas finished with a steady 18 points and nine assists in the Celtics’ 123-101 victory, giving them a 3-2 advantage in the Eastern Conference semifinal series. It’s a fine stat line that also hints at the real story. Thomas’s supporting cast was stellar from beginning to end. For once, The Little Guy’s burden was eased.
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Avery Bradley and Al Horford are, on many nights from October to May, the Celtics’ best all-around players. Wednesday was one of those nights. Bradley scored 29 points, including a tone-setting 14 in the first quarter, when he outscored stalwart Wizards guards John Wall and Bradley Beal combined by 8 points. He had 25 at halftime, along with his usual tenacious defense.
Horford finished with 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting, 7 assists, 6 rebounds, and 3 blocks in 28 minutes, and the impressive numbers do not do the performance justice. The offense ran through him for much of the third quarter, and it seemed that he’d find a cutting teammate for a layup on every other possession. The Celtics have a fine group of guards, but Horford at his best is the finest playmaker on the roster.
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Their contributions were the most impressive. But support can be found all over the box score. Jae Crowder delivered his second-best game of the series, scoring 18 points in 26 minutes and collecting 8 rebounds. Just when I think he should be relegated to the bench, he reminds us that at his best, he’s the embodiment of this team: tough, versatile, and better than you often give him credit for.
Amir Johnson — the often beleaguered fifth starter — scored 8 points, including what is believed to be his first alley-oop dunk since he was a soaring youngster for the ABA’s Virginia Squires. Might be kidding. Might not. Pretty sure he played with Marvin Barnes.
What else? Who else? Everyone else. Marcus Smart, who to put it mildly was a mess in Game 4, was back to being his relentless self in this one, finishing with 9 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals. Even Jaylen Brown and the ascending Terry Rozier combined for 46 energetic minutes off the bench, with Brown providing a first quarter jolt that included a lovely pass to Bradley for a dunk.
(OK, this is where I acknowledge it wasn’t quite everyone. Jonas Jerebko, whom I smartly suggested should start Game 5 and instead acquired one of those Brad Stevens-issued DNP-CDs on his record. I still say he’ll have his moment! He’s adequate at everything, I tell you!)
It’s probably just a coincidence, but the Celtics guard play was stellar on a night in which team management was scheduled to interview potential No. 1 pick Markelle Fultz at the NBA combine. Thomas, Bradley, Smart and Rozier all had a say in the victory, the first three significantly so.
Game 4 – a loss that included a still-unfathomable 26-0 run by the Wizards – was one of those aggravating thumpings during which you started wondering if the Celtics needed some sort of meaningful, conventional talent upgrade in the backcourt. Game 5 was a reminder that it would be a downright bummer to see any of the guards go, even Rozier. They’re all equipped with that toughness and resilience Boston fans love to celebrate.
It’s stunning in the immediate aftermath how little drama this one contained. The Wizards, who should have smelled blood after winning Games 3 and 4 by a combined total of 46 points, were oddly listless after scoring the game’s first 4 points. The Celtics, behind Bradley’s sharpshooting, led 33-21 after the first quarter and 67-51 at the half.
There might have been a brief, uneasy moment in the third quarter — due to the fresh memory of the 26-0 run — when the Wizards pulled to within 77-64. But a Thomas baseline jumper and a Horford dish to Bradley for 2 built the lead back to a secure 17.
There was nothing to worry about beyond that, no suspense, no drama, not even a Round 2 between the dueling Kellys, Olynyk and Oubre. Oubre, who shoved Olynyk to the ground in Game 3 and was suspended for Game 4, got booed — sometimes crudely — throughout Game 5 while turning the polarizing Olynyk (8 points) into a relative fan-favorite for the night.
It was over early, but the confirmation came in the fourth. James Young, whose ceiling is to be the modern Terry Duerod, entered right around the 5 minute mark. Tyler Zeller and Gerald Green checked in a minute later.
Then, the ultimate figurative victory cigar: Gino danced at precisely 2:29. A certain someone who now resides at Area 21 must have been smiling. Everyone in the green-tinted crowd at TD Garden was. In the comforts of home, the Celtics found themselves, while the Wizards were lost. It wasn’t just what the Celtics needed. It was what they needed to do, and the delivery could not have been more impressive.
