
The Boston Celtics won game 7 against the Washington Wizards thanks in large part to stretch big Kelly Olynyk. Olynyk had probably the finest (certainly the most important) performance of his four-year professional career. Fellow Boston big man Al Horford had some kind words about his teammate:
Horford called Kelly Olynyk "probably the hardest-working guy on the team. His ability is unbelievable."
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) May 16, 2017
Horford on Olynyk: "I told him before the series started. I told him, 'You're going to have a great series.'"
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) May 16, 2017
Olynyk finished with 26 points off the bench, with 14 of those 26 points coming in the fourth quarter. Olynyk single-handedly outscored the entire Washington bench 26-5 in game 7.
While few are giving the Celtics much of any chance to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Conference Finals, this season has been a remarkably successful one for Boston. The C’s finished first in their conference, made the Conference Finals (an impressive accomplishment regardless of the result), and let’s not forget that they have the best odds at the no. 1 pick in the 2017 Draft, thanks to Danny Ainge’s black-magic trading witchery with the Brooklyn Nets. The Celtics find themselves in an awfully enviable position.