The first round is officially over in the Eastern Conference and we're off into some enticing match ups in the second round. The Wizards take on the Celtics in a battle that you don't want to miss. The action starts live on ABC at 1:00 PM EST.
What to expect
Game 1 of any new series always has some expectations. There are the obvious predictions on who will win, but there's also predictions on what teams will do in this specific match up.
For this series, you should expect an uptempo game from both sides. The wizards want to get you in space and get their guards John Wall and Bradley Beal to go to work while you are already moving. John Wall is a master at getting through traffic and they'll try to run every time they can.
The Celtics are really similar in that they want to up their possessions per game as well. Isaiah Thomas gets the ball going in transition well, but the others on the team aren't really oriented that way. You'll see Isaiah take a lot of fast break opportunities on his own.
Wizards keys
For the Wizards, it comes down to efficiency.
They have a very dangerous offense but they can sometimes go cold. This is an especially large problem from beyond the arc. Bradley Beal has to be efficient from three if the Wizards want to keep the pressure on Boston. They've had a series against the Hawks to find a rhythm and now they have to do that here against the Celtics. On defense, Washington needs to get the ball out of Isaiah's hands. He's a scorer and a playmaker but if they force others to be the threat they stand a really good chance to win.
Celtics keys
For Boston, one big key is the role players on the team. Towards the end of their series against Chicago, you could see Avery Bradley, Gerald Green, and Al Horford all start to be really assertive and quite dominant.
They need this out of them because the Wizards have the firepower to match them on offense and defense.
The Bulls really lacked a guy who could affect the whole floor but the Wizards have that in John Wall. On defense, the Celtics need to just clog up the paint when John Wall is going to work. If Wall is getting to the rim consistently then you might as well be done for because then it opens up everything they want on offense.
This series is so evenly matched and it should live up to the hype. Two incredible point guards are going at it in John Wall and Isaiah Thomas. John Wall has been embarrassing any guard in his path and we get to see how the Celtics will deal with him.