BOSTON — The Washington Wizards know their defensive schemes. They drilled through each principle relentlessly during October's training camp, and at each moment of slippage in the regular season, they returned to the basics of taking pride in individual defense and working together as a unit.
Following the lopsided game in which his team led 4-0, then gave up 13 straight points and defensively fell to pieces for the rest of the night, Wizards Coach Scott Brooks’s admission offered little comfort.
“We didn’t have the focus, the appropriate focus, we had to have going into this game,” Brooks said.
Now Boston should have the Wizards' attention. As the Celtics snatched the 3-2 series lead in this Eastern Conference semifinal matchup, Washington stands on the brink of elimination, which could come as soon as Friday at home.
The only good news: Verizon Center is not in Boston.
The Wizards have lost all three road games by allowing bloated totals. Boston scored 123 points in Game 1, then followed with 129. When the series returned to TD Garden with the teams at a 2-2 impasse, the Celtics played freely and fiercely.
“They played well. Boston played a good basketball game,” Brooks said. “Avery [Bradley] was on fire. Al [Horford] was terrific. We had no answers for those guys. We done a pretty good job on their best player but not a good enough job on the other guys.”
Bradley torched the Wizards for a playoff career high — by halftime. Though Bradley surpassed the combined first-half effort from John Wall and Bradley Beal with 25 points, he eventually cooled off and finished with 29.
Horford couldn’t miss until the third quarter, stretching out as a nightmare matchup for any big man to defend. While Horford scored 19 points with a trio of three-pointers, Boston hit 16 of 33, and what should have been a competitive Game 5 turned into a green hell for the Wizards.
“Whenever they shoot almost 50 percent from three,” Wall said, “they’re a tough team to play against.”
Before the fourth quarter, the scoreboard showed New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick, smiling. From his baseline seat, Belichick held up a green “Let’s Go Celtics” T-shirt to the delight of the sold-out crowd. Soon, the Wizards starters would take their seats and put on warmup shirts.
With 6:41 remaining in the lopsided game, Wall was the last starter to leave the court. Wall scored a team-high 21 points and added four assists, snapping his NBA record of 11 straight double-doubles, while Beal missed 12 of 19 from the floor and scored 16.
“All we can do is focus on Game 6 at home,” Beal said. “Both teams been playing well at home.
“We got to come out desperate, so to speak.”
Both teams have looked rather feeble, however, while playing on the road. Washington entered the night with more than three years of futility inside TD Garden, its last win there on April 16, 2014. Putting history aside, the Wizards still felt confident about Game 5 — if only their defense carried over from the two games at Verizon Center.
This challenge was simple as instruction but not in execution for the Wizards. The game slipped out of their hands before the crowd could get lathered into a frenzy.
Washington made its first two shots, then blew its next eight attempts. During this time, players reacted slowly in shifting to the defensive end. Even as the Celtics desired to push the pace on almost every possession, the Wizards’ defense trailed behind these transition plays.
After Jae Crowder finished a finger roll, Brooks burned his first timeout. Minutes later, Brooks tried to end the run with another huddle after Isaiah Thomas converted a transition layup following Wall’s failed drive to the rim and then tossed a lob to Amir Johnson flying down the right side.
However, Brooks could do little to curb the bonanza of breakouts, and by the end of the quarter, the Celtics controlled the transition game, outscoring Washington, 15-0.
“I really don’t think we relaxed,” Wall said about the Game 5 effort. “I think they kind of surprised us. When we took shots, they started leaking out and getting out.”
As the Wizards gave up 33 first-quarter points and allowed 65 percent shooting from the field, they misdirected frustration and anger at the officials. Although the players’ gripes had some substance — with 3:50 remaining in the half, Wall became the first Wizards starter to attempt a free throw — their offense didn’t stall because of a lack of foul calls.
Washington missed far too many shots. In the second quarter, Wall air-balled a floater and dipped to 1 for 7 from the floor, his second straight bad shooting start. Later, Markieff Morris overshot the rim on a corner three-pointer; he finished the half with a 1-for-7 mark, 0 for 3 from behind the arc. Beal misfired on 10 of his 15 attempts, including the four from the three-point line. Through the half, the Wizards saw decent looks, but as their jumpers didn’t fall, their shooting percentage plummeted to 34.6 percent.
With their offense in the gutter and their defensive effort waning, the Wizards walked off the court and into their first elimination test.
