In what will be the most exciting game so far of this year's playoffs, the Boston Celtics have the clear edge over the Washington Wizards in terms of experience. The storied franchise has played 28 Game 7s in its history. They've won an astonishing 20 of them. 

The Wizard may have the momentum from last night's phenomenal Game 6 win on their side, but they'll be facing a team that specializes in closing out series. This is the farthest the Celtics have made it in the playoffs since the 'Big 3' of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen broke up, and it'll be a crucial test to see whether Isaiah Thomas is capable of leading this young squad to a title. 

These teams have been pretty evenly matched thus far in the series, so it's tough to make a confident prediction for Game 7. History is often the best teacher, however, so let's go back and look at a few of Boston's historic Game 7s. 

1. 1987 Conference Semifinals vs. Bucks and Conference Finals vs. Pistons

We'll start with the legendary 1987 NBA Playoffs, in which Larry Bird's Celtics won not one but two consecutive Game 7s enroute to the NBA Finals.

In Game 7 against the Bucks, Boston overcame an eight-point deficit in the final six minutes and used their physical brand of basketball to silence the Bucks on their way to a 119-113 win.

In their next series, Boston's starting five of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Dennis Johnson and Danny Ainge were again pushed to a Game 7, but Bird poured in 37 points to lead the Celtics to victory over Isiah Thomas' Pistons. 

Legendary Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan called it at the time one of the greatest NBA playoff games ever played, but the Celtics would go on to lose in the Finals against Magic Johnson's Lakers.

2. 2008 Conference Semifinals vs. Cavaliers

This has gone down in history as the signature series of the Celtics' 'Big 3'. It has also gone down as Lebron James' ultimate 'hero ball' series, as the superstar nearly carried the entire Cavaliers team on his back to pull off the upset over the Celtics. 

James finished with 45 points, but Paul Pierce had the answer with 41 of his own, including a key steal and clutch free-throws to clinch the victory in the final minute. 

3. 2010 NBA Finals vs. Lakers

After winning the title in 2008, the Celtics came into this series as the slight favorites and did not disappoint through the first five games. However, the Lakers managed to hold Boston to just 146 points over the final two games as Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol proved to be too much for the 'Big 3' to handle. 

Neither team could get much going in Game 7, with Bryant shooting just 6-for-24 and Pierce going 5-for-15 from the field. Ray Allen also picked a bad time to go cold, hitting just two of his seven three-point attempts. In the end it was Gasol's monster 19 point/18 rebound double-double that won the game for the Lakers. It would turn out to the final title of Kobe's career.

The Washington Wizards aren't on the same level as the 2010 Lakers or the 2008 Cavaliers, but Isaiah Thomas and co. will need to learn from past mistakes to close this series out. Should they win, they'll take on LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals on just one day of rest.