It feels like the Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards have been playing forever. Their second-round series started more than two weeks ago, and the winner will face the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals -- a Cavs team that hasn't played since May 7. As LeBron James and friends watch and wait, here are five things to know heading into Monday's Game 7 of the East semis in Boston:

1. The Wizards have struggled on the road

At home, the Wizards have an offensive rating of 109.6 and a defensive rating of 96.9, meaning that they've outscored Boston by 12.7 points per 100 possessions in this series. On the road, Washington has had an offensive rating of 106.0 and a defensive rating of 124.3; it has been outscored by 18.2 points per 100 possessions. Those statistics don't necessarily have predictive value going into a Game 7, which by its nature is a different kind of game than all others, but they do have to scare Wizards fans a bit. 

Washington was only 19-22 away from the Verizon Center this season, and it played poorly in its first two games in Atlanta in the first round, too. The Wizards did, however, manage to close out the Hawks on the road, an encouraging sign if you're looking for reasons this could be an upset.  

2. Horford and Bradley need to keep it up

With the way Washington is trying to take Celtics star Isaiah Thomas out of his game, Boston's secondary play-makers will have plenty of opportunities. Center Al Horford has been one the best big men in the playoffs, averaging 17 points on 68.9 percent shooting while stretching the floor, facilitating from the high post and playing smart defense. In Games 5 and 6 he scored 39 points on 16-of-21 shooting. 

Celtics guard Avery Bradley hasn't been as consistent as Horford, but he has been on fire lately. In the past two games, he scored 56 points on 22-of-37 shooting. Presumably the Wizards will continue to prefer to give up open looks to Horford and Bradley than to let Thomas get going, so they're going to have to stay ready to make plays. 

3. Wall can do more

There might not be a bigger play in recent Wizards history than John Wall's winning 3-pointer Friday. With the season on the line, he took a low-percentage shot over one of the league's best perimeter defenders from a few feet outside his comfort zone, and he made it with full confidence. As memorable as it was, though, it masked an uneven performance from the All-Star, who missed 16 of his 25 shots and had only three of his 26 points at halftime. 

Many of those misses were in traffic at the rim. When he forces a bigger defender to switch onto him or when he attacks in transition, nothing can stop him from getting to the basket. Wall has to make the most of those moments, or he might not have a chance to do something incredible in crunch time.  

4. Role players could decide this

Washington forward Otto Porter likely will sign a maximum contract this summer. This makes sense; he's a versatile stretch forward who shot 43.4 percent from 3-point range in the regular season. Against Boston, though, Porter has shot 3 of 19 from deep, and he went scoreless in 36 minutes Friday. His emergence had a lot to do with the Wizards' improvement this season, and his shooting is a good barometer for their offense. 

Washington also needs more from center Marcin Gortat, who was only 2 of 3 in 25 minutes in Game 6. Gortat always provides great screen-setting and solid team defense, but he's also an excellent roller and finisher. The Wizards don't need to feed him in the post over and over, but they need to figure out a way to get some scoring from people other than Wall and Bradley Beal. It would be a huge help if Brandon Jennings or Bojan Bogdanovic gave them something off the bench. 

The Celtics are a deeper team and need to take advantage of it. Their second unit has been much better than the Wizards' bench in the series, but the reserves only scored five points on 2-of-15 shooting in Game 6, with fifth starter Amir Johnson contributing two points in 14 minutes. 

5. There's an elephant in the room

Boston really shouldn't even be in this position. The Celtics led by five points before an awful turnover led to a Beal 3-pointer to make Game 6 a two-point contest with 1:09 left in the fourth quarter. It's not helpful to think about that wasted opportunity now, but it's a difficult thing to bounce back from.

All Game 7 clichés remain true. These teams know each others' playbooks and tendencies inside and out. They are about evenly matched in terms of talent, and they are open about how they don't like each other. The weird thing about this series is that it has been defined by blowouts and massive runs, where one team looks sloppy and the other looks totally locked in. The Celtics can't let Game 6 affect them, and they have to stay composed rather than trying to rise to the occasion.