Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal, right, goes down with the ball as Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart defends during the second quarter of Game 7 of a second-round NBA basketball playoff series./AP
BOSTON –Isaiah Thomas scored 29 points and had 12 assists, Kelly Olynyk scored a career-playoff high 26 points and the Boston Celtics used a big fourth quarter to outlast the Washington Wizards 115-105 in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals Monday night.
Boston advances to the Eastern Conference finals, where it will host the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 on Wednesday.
Led by Olynyk the Celtics got a huge lift from their bench, outscoring their Wizards’ counterparts 48-5. Boston also connected on 11 3-pointers, including 8 of 13 in the second half.
Bradley Beal led the Wizards, which was playing it its first Game 7 since 1979 with 38 points, including 24 in the second half.
Otto Porter added 20 points. John Wall and Markieff Morris each finished with 18. But Washington also had 15 turnovers, leading to 17 Celtics’ points./AP