Boston Celtics at Washington Wizards - 5/7/17 NBA Playoffs Pick, Odds, and Prediction

The gap has only increased over the past two games. During that 12-minute span the Celtics were outscored 42-20, nearly exclusively thanks to a game-breaking 26-0 run in the quarter, in Boston's 121-102 loss Sunday in Game 4.

The Celtics lead would actually swell to 12 and then it was as if a switch went off in Wall's head, and he had enough.

22-0 run:John Wall, Bradley Beal, Otto Porter, Markieff Morris, Marcin Gortat (subs during run: Bojan Bogdanovic for Morris six points in, Brandon Jennings for Beal 10 points in, Kelly Oubre Jr. for Porter 17 points in, Ian Mahinmi for Gortat 17 points in).

Then Porter robbed another pass from Thomas and dunked his stolen goods.

Brooks called it "probably" the Wizards' best stretch of the season.

The Wizards have made it a point to make Isaiah Thomas work more on defense, but that hasn't been the main issue.

Kyle Korver scored 18 points to help the Cavaliers become the first team to win eight straight playoff games the year following a title, and the first to win eight straight in consecutive postseasons.

The Wizards third quarter defense. "Post columnist Jerry Brewer wrote bluntly after Game 4 that the Wizards are "flat-out better than the Boston Celtics", and that the only reason this series is tied is because the Celtics "(are) tough, and they have played well at the right moments at home". Washington went on a 26-0 run, going 10-of-13 from the floor and forcing eight turnovers as they created an insurmountable lead. Both know their roles and do it well as they have recorded career-highs in field goal- and three-point percentage. Jae Crowder provided the toughness on the glass with four rebounds. But when Washington went on a remarkable 26-0 run in the third quarter, it was nothing but transition dominance from Wall and the Wiz.

In the third quarter, Washington turned a competitive game into a laugher.

The incident, for which Oubre was assessed a Flagrant Foul 2 and ejected from the game, occurred with 9:12 remaining in the second quarter of the Wizards' 116-89 blowout victory over the Celtics at Verizon Center in Washington. Because the Wizards actually executed their game plan.

Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal's night began with the ball in his hands on the second possession of the game and Isaiah Thomas guarding him.

Washington will be without Oubre, who averaged 6.3 points and 20.3 minutes in the regular season.

So the Celtics still have home-court advantage, which is a sliver of a silver lining. They started him on Wall, but the Wizards promptly put him into hard Gortat screens, draining his energy. But for the Wizards to make such a quick turnaround at the expense of the Celtics' confidence was quite a surprise.

The good news? Game 5 is on Wednesday.

Rashad has been covering the National Basketball Association and the Washington Wizards since 2008-his first two years were spent at Hoops Addict before moving to Truth About It. Rashad has appeared on ESPN and college radio, SportsTalk on NewsChannel 8 in Washington D.C., and his articles have appeared on ESPN TrueHoop, USAToday.com, Complex Magazine, and the DCist.