Boston.com · May 1, 2017
Celtics won this one on instinct
Coach Brad Stevens had a pat on the back for Isaiah Thomas after the Celtics defeated the Wizards in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinals series.Because ABC wanted a game for its 1 p.m. Sunday window, the Celtics and Wizards were thrown into their Eastern Conference semifinal series just 36 hours after completing their first-round series.
So Game 1 at TD Garden involved more instinct than preparation. The Celtics had every excuse to give this one away: fatigue, Isaiah Thomas’s travel schedule toattend his sister’s funeral, which included a 4 a.m. return to Boston on Sunday, and coming down from an emotional and taxing series against the Bulls.