Bradley, Horford huge as Celtics roll to pivotal Game 5 win over Wizards: Takeaways

Bradley put up 25 first-half points

In seven-game playoff series tied 2-2, the team winning Game 5 goes on to win the series 83 percent of the time, making Wednesday night's showdown between the Celtics and Wizards pivotal in their second-round series. Judging by that statistic, the Celtics will be heavy favorites to move on the Eastern Conference finals after cruising past the Wizards, 123-101.

The Wizards scored the first four points, but after that it was all Celtics, as they jumped out to a 33-21 lead after the first quarter and had little trouble after that. Avery Bradley led the way, pouring in 25 of his 29 points in the first half, and Al Horford impressed as well, finishing with 19 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds. 

Here are a few quick takeaways from the Celtics' important victory:

Celtics' "other" guys step up

The Wizards have made a concerted effort to take Isaiah Thomas out of the game as much as possible after his 53-point outburst in Game 2, sometimes even face-guarding him to try and prevent him from even touching the ball. In Games 3 and 4 in Washington, this worked well for the Wiz, as Thomas failed to even reach 20 points in either game (the first time all season he had less than 20 points in back-to-back games), and the Wizards easily took both games to even the series. 

In those two games in Washington, no one on the Celtics scored 20 points in either game, as the role players struggled to shoot. Avery Bradley was 5-of-17, Jae Crowder was 6-of-19, and Al Horford was 10-of-28 in the two games in Washington. But back in a more comfortable TD Garden, those three combined to shoot 26-of-43, combining for 66 points in Game 5.

With Thomas once again mostly taken out of the flow on the offensive end, their ability to step up and provide on the offensive end made the difference for the Celtics.

Home sweet Home

The Celtics and Wizards have now played nine games against each other in 2016-17, four in the regular season, and five in the playoffs. With the Celtics' Game 5 victory, the home team remained undefeated. Now, down 3-2 the Wizards will have to break that streak if they hope to win the series. 

Celtics win fastbreak battle

A big part of the Celtics' great start in the first quarter was their ability to get out on the fastbreak, outscoring the Wizards 15-0 in that category in the first 12 minutes. Over the course of the game, things evened out in that regard, but the Celtics still won that battle, 19-14. 

That was a huge upgrade over the two games in Washington, where the Celtics were outscored 39-18 in that department, as John Wall and the Wizards got out in transition and scored all sorts of easy baskets. 

Boston's ability to contain Wall and the Wizards on the break was vital to their success in Game 5, as the Wizards have been utilizing the fastbreak to great success in the playoffs, scoring nearly 19 points per game in transition, which is second-best among playoff teams.