Tip-off: Friday, 8:00 p.m. ET
Line: Washington -5.0, Total: 216.5

Can Boston finally win in Washington to close out the Wizards on Friday?

Heading into Game 5 of their Eastern Conference Semifinals series against the Washington Wizards, things weren’t looking so good for the Boston Celtics. While they had jumped out to a 2-0 series lead with fairly decisive victories at home, the Wizards had evened the series with two absolute blowouts in D.C. Boston now controls the series, though, having kept their TD Garden magic alive with a 123-101 trouncing over the Wiz in Game 5 on Wednesday night. The game was over early—or at least it felt like it—as the Celtics jumped out to a 15-point first-quarter lead and Washington looked listless, especially in contrast to the aggressive up-and-down style they showcased in Games 3 and 4. Now, the Wizards’ season is on the line as they return home to the Verizon Center for Game 6 on Friday night. Precedent suggests they have good hope for pushing the series to Game 7: In the nine meetings between Boston and Washington this season (regular season and playoffs), the home team has won all nine times. Since 1996, teams with a scoring average of at least 103 PPG that trailed at halftime by at least 15 points in their previous game (WAS) are 234-180 ATS. In the same timeframe, second-round playoff games are 92-44 Over against totals of 210 or greater.

Boston SG Avery Bradley (15.4 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 1.4 SPG; all player stats are for the playoffs) is known primarily for his defensive prowess, and rightly so. But he has the skills to put the ball in the basket, and the Celtics shine when he puts them together. Such was the case on Wednesday, when Bradley dropped a shocking 25 first-half points and 29 on the night, shooting 12-of-19 from the field. C Al Horford (15.8 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 6.1 APG, 1.0 SPG, 1.0 BPG) was also brilliant, scoring 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting and adding seven assists, six rebounds and three blocks. He’s known for doing positive things that don’t show up in the box score, so it’s usually a good sign when he can stuff the stat sheet, too. SF Jae Crowder (13.5 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 1.3 SPG) had his highest-scoring game of the series since Game 1, putting in 18 points and also pulling down eight rebounds. PG Isaiah Thomas (24.9 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 5.9 APG, 1.0 SPG) matched him with 18 and also added nine assists. After averaging 43 PPG in the series’ first two games, Thomas has averaged 16.7 in the last three. That spelled trouble at Verizon, but when his teammates play as well as they did in Game 5, his scoring hardly makes a difference. It should be noted, though, that he was often the one getting them their open looks. PG Marcus Smart (8.2 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 4.7 APG, 1.7 SPG) and rookie SF Jaylen Brown (3.1 PPG) each played 26 minutes off the bench, while PG Terry Rozier (7.1 PPG, 3.4 RPG) played 21. Smart had nine points, 11 rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block.

When Washington was going on jaw-dropping scoring runs in Games 3 and 4, the reason was their aggression in transition. Whether off of turnovers or missed shots, PG John Wall (28.1 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 10.5 APG, 2.0 SPG, 1.2 BPG) and company were sprinting to beat the Celtics down court. In Game 5, they got a taste of their own medicine. Wall looked inexplicably lethargic, failing to get back on D to stop the tide of green. He wasn’t particularly assertive on offense, either, finishing with 21 points on 7-of-17 shooting and four assists, marking his only sub-eight-assist performance in the series. For what it’s worth, though, his -9 plus/minus for the evening was the best of Washington’s starting lineup. Bradley Beal had a similar offensive stat line—16 points on 7-of-19 shooting—but his -20 plus/minus was a team-worst by three points. The marksman was 0-for-4 from three. The Wizards in general were awful from three-point range (7-of-29, or 24.1%), a tough night made more stark by the fact that they allowed Boston to shoot 16-of-33 (48.5%) from beyond the arc. SF Otto Porter Jr. (12.5 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 1.6 SPG) had 13 points and PF Markieff Morris (11.2 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 1.4 BPG) had nine, each taking 11 shots. C Marcin Gortat (8.6 PPG, 11.0 RPG, 1.6 BPG) had seven points and 11 rebounds. In a statistic that may be indicative of the Wizards’ visibly poor effort, they were outrebounded 48-45 by a Boston team that rarely out-rebounds anyone.