Last night was a important day of basketball for multiple teams as the the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls, and Washington Wizards and Atlanta Hawks played in pivotal Games 5’s in their respective series.
At the end of the night both the Celtics and Wizards would go ahead and take 3-2 series leads. The Celtics have won three straight after dropping the first two games at home and the Wizards are hoping John Wall can lead them into Atlanta and put the series away tomorrow night.
Game 5: Atlanta Hawks @ Washington Wizards (Wizards lead series, 3-2)
John Wall and Bradley Beal led the Wizards to an important 103-99 victory over the Hawks last night. Beal led the team with 27 points, and Wall posted a double-double with 20 points and 14 assists.
Dennis Schroder led the Hawks with 29 points, including a career-high five made 3’s and cut the lead to two with a little over a minute remaining but Wall responded with a jumper on the following possession to essentially ice the game.
Dwight Howard was a no-show for the Hawks who only scored five points on the night. If the Hawks want to extend the series they need Howard to step up and play to his capability. Game 6 of this series is Friday night in Atlanta as the Wizards look to eliminate the Hawks and advance to the conference semifinals.
Game 5: Chicago Bulls @ Boston Celtics (Celtics lead series, 3-2)
Avery Bradley and Isaiah Thomas each scored 24 points and Al Horford chipped in with 21 points to help the Celtics take Game 5 of the seres against the Bulls. Dwyane Wade had a vintage performance as he finished with 26 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.
Jimmy Butler struggled throughout the game as he only finished with 14 points on 6-of-15 shooting. The Celtics used a 20-5 run in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach. It is evident that the Bulls are struggling without starting point guard Rajon Rondo.
Without him, the Bulls have been unable to get consistently clean looks at the basket and have now lost three straight without him after taking the first two games on the road. The Bulls will look to stave off elimination on Friday night in Chicago.
