NBA Playoff Schedule 2017: TV Info, Live Stream, Predictions for Friday Matchup
After the San Antonio Spurs closed out their series against the Houston Rockets on the road in emphatic fashion, the Boston Celtics will look to do the same tonight as they hit the road for Game 6 against the Washington Wizards.
While the Celtics will be hoping for the same kind of result from Thursday, a winning margin of 39 points, they'll come into tonight's matchup feeling like they have enough momentum to carry them through to the Eastern Conference Finals to take on reigning champions Cleveland Cavaliers after an impressive 123-101 victory in Game 5.
But in this series, as it was during the regular season, the home town has won every game. In that regard, the Wizards will look to get back to putting the beatdown on Boston like they have for the majority of the series, and that includes some of the games they lost.
Here's a quick look at the television and live-stream options for tonight's game to go along with my game prediction:
| Washington Wizards at Boston Celtics | Second | 6 | 8:00 p.m. | ESPN |
The game will be live-streamed through WatchESPN for those viewing on mobile and tablet devices.
Prediction
Wizards extend series to seven games
It's no secret that the Celtics have looked shaky not only in this series, but even dating back to their six-game series against the Chicago Bulls.
It's not often that a No. 1 seed gets written off this much so early on in the playoffs, but it's hard to look past Boston's glaring holes on both sides of the ball. Offensively, inconsistent perimeter shooting and a lack of individual creativity has haunted the Celtics.
Isaiah Thomas can drop 40 points on any given night, but as we saw in Games 3 and 4 in Washington, the Celtics break down offensively when Thomas can't get going. No other player in the starting five for Boston can create his own shot.
Al Horford is a much better distributor and spot-up shooter than he is a go-to post player, which would be fine if the likes of Jae Crowder and Avery Bradley could create off the dribble. Bradley played out of his mind in Game 5 in Boston's blowout win at home, but it's going to be difficult to score 29 points again against a team like the Wizards, especially on the road.
We all know Bradley is one of the NBA's premier defenders and is a good knockdown shooter, but will he able to cut to the basket and create easy baskets for himself now that Washington knows what the Celtics are looking to do when they double- and triple-team Thomas?
That remains to be seen. If the Celtics want to ride this wave of success, they'll have to free up Thomas and allow him to make plays for himself and his teammates without giving up too much on the defensive end.
John Wall has scorched Thomas for most of this series and will go back to playing isolation basketball in Game 6 to make Thomas nearly unplayable like he was in Games 3 and 4. Game 5 got away from the Wizards rather quickly, and they weren't able to take advantage of posting up Thomas with the likes of Otto Porter Jr. when Boston switched on defense.
Here's what Porter had to say after Game 4, per CSN Mid-Atlantic:
"We watched a lot of film and just tried to figure out how we can make adjustments. Especially with Isaiah guarding me, or whoever is guarding me trying to attack that side. If they double-team me, then I need to look for a shooter. It was just a good adjustment that we made."
For Washington to win tonight, they'll have to go back to what they do best. And that means posting up Porter on Thomas as much as they can and put the ball in Wall's hands so he can get to the basket.
By driving into the paint early and often, the Celtics defense will have no other choice but to collapse inside to help Thomas or Bradley defend Wall, freeing up the likes of Bradley Beal, Porter and the returning Kelly Oubre on the perimeter.
The Wizards' best defense is a good offense. By limiting turnovers and fastbreaks by scoring points and forcing the Celtics to inbound on most possessions, the Celtics won't be able to break down Washington's half-court defense as they did on Wednesday, leading to turnovers and easy baskets like Washington had during that incredible 26-0 run in the third quarter of Game 4.
Give credit to Boston in Game 5, though. They came out and put on a show in the first quarter, which was a first in this series. The Celtics made some good adjustments, played Thomas off the ball and even made him set screens for other players to keep the offense in rhythm. The Wizards certainly have their homework to do, and they don't have a choice but to come out and play hard tonight.
Boston can still win this series and will look to do so tonight, but the Wizards have their backs against the wall and will be fighting for their playoff lives. 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.
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