CHICAGO — Avery Bradley scored 23 points and all five Boston starters reached double figures as the Celtics blew out the Chicago Bulls 105-83 in Game 6 to close out their Eastern Conference playoff series Friday night.
With the victory, the Celtics advance to face the Washington Wizards, who eliminated the Atlanta Hawks with a 115-99 victory Friday night.
Gerald Green scored 16 points for the Celtics, who also got 12 points from Jae Crowder, Isaiah Thomas and Al Horford in the win.
Jimmy Butler, hobbled by knee soreness, led Chicago with 23 points. Robin Lopez also scored 10 points for the Bulls, who dropped the final four games of the best-of-seven series after grabbing a 2-0 lead with a pair of lopsided victories in Boston.
Dwyane Wade appeared to aggravate an elbow injury he sustained late in the regular season. The veteran struggled throughout the night, hitting on only 1-of-10 shot attempts.
Isaiah Canaan scored nine points, Michael Carter-Williams added eight points off the bench and Paul Zipser had seven.
The Celtics broke the game open early in the third quarter. Boston started the second half on a 10-2 scoring run to build a 64-43 lead. Greene capped the run with a 3-point field goal as the Celtics, who led by as many as 30 points, pulled away.
Boston held a 54-41 advantage at halftime. The Celtics led by as many as 17 in the first half when they shot 50 percent (9-for-18) from 3-point range before finishing the game 16-for-39 from beyond the arc.
NOTES: Celtics G Isaiah Thomas was scheduled to leave for Seattle after Friday’s game for his sister’s funeral, which will be held on Saturday. Thomas’ sister, Chyna, was killed in an automobile accident earlier this month. Celtics coach Brad Stevens would not comment on which members of the team would be traveling to the funeral besides Thomas. … Bulls F Jimmy Butler played 31 minutes despite dealing with soreness in his knee. Asked if Butler had taken any medication for the soreness, coach Fred Hoiberg said he did not know. “He’s obviously got some soreness, but Jimmy’s going to fight through it,” Hoiberg said before Friday’s game. “He’s a warrior, he’s a guy that is as well-conditioned as anyone in this league and he’s going to go out and give everything that he has.” … G Rajon Rondo (thumb) and G Cameron Payne were inactive for the Bulls.
Wizards 115, Hawks 99
ATLANTA — Guards John Wall and Bradley Beal combined for 73 points and the Washington Wizards defeated the Atlanta Hawks 115-99 on Friday to win their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series.
Washington won the series four games to two and advances to the second round to meet Boston, which eliminated Chicago in six games.
Wall scored 20 points in the first half and finished with 42 points on 16-of-25 shooting. Beal had 17 in the first half and finished with 31 points on 11-of-17 shooting. Wall also had eight assists.
The duo finished the series with 332 of the team’s 640 total points in six games, 51.8 percent of Washington’s offense.
Washington’s Markieff Morris added 17 points and eight rebounds and Bojan Bogdanovic came off the bench to score 10.
Atlanta was led by Paul Millsap, who finished with 31 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in 46 minutes. Dennis Schroder had 26 points and 10 assists, his second straight double-double. Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 13 points, but was 5 of 18 from the floor.
The Wizards led by 22 points in the second half, but Atlanta twice trimmed the lead to three points. Washington answered with six consecutive points, the last basket being a jumper by Wall with 3:31 left that restored the nine-point lead.
Washington got off to a hot start, with Morris making a pair of 3-pointers in the first four minutes to help stake the Wizards to a 17-10 lead. They led by as many as 10 points when Kelly Oubre Jr. made a 3-pointer, one of four by the team in the first quarter, and wound up with a 30-23 lead.
The first quarter turned physical early. Atlanta center Dwight Howard knocked Washington’s Jason Smith to the floor with an elbow to the chin. Officials reviewed the play, but ruled it a common foul rather than a flagrant foul.
Another incident nearly caused a fight with 51.9 seconds left. Beal scored on a breakaway slam and tumbled into the first row, believing incorrectly that he had been pushed by Atlanta’s Kent Bazemore. Words were exchanged and both teams clustered near the basket. Bazemore and Smith were assessed technicals for pushing each other.
Washington continued to take advantage of Atlanta mistakes and led 65-46 at halftime. The Hawks had 15 turnovers in the first half, leading to 20 points for the Wizards.
The Wizards shot the ball exceptionally well in the half. The Wizards made 65.8 percent of their shots, including 6 of 10 on 3s, which offset the above-average 50 percent field-goal shooting by Atlanta.
Washington led by as many as 22 points in the third quarter, but Atlanta refused to go away. Schroder scored 14 points in the quarter and the Hawks cut the margin to seven when Howard followed a missed shot with a slam. Washington took an 89-82 lead into the fourth quarter.
NOTES: Washington C Jason Smith entered the game with 7:33 left in the first quarter. It was uncertain whether he would play because of sprained left knee. … The Wizards are 7-0 all-time in a series where they had a 3-2 lead. … Inactive for Washington were C Ian Mahinmi (left calf) and F Chris McCullough. Inactive for Atlanta for were F Ryan Kelly and F DeAndre Bembry.