These stirring runs by the Washington Wizards are a byproduct of an efficient offense mixed with a stifling defense that creates transition baskets.

The Celtics actually led Sunday’s Game 4, 53-48, after a pair of free throws and 3-pointer from Amir Johnson 50 seconds into the second half, but the Wizards’ 26-0 surge started innocently enough with a pair of Markieff Morris free throws.

Then came an Isaiah Thomas turnover when he inexplicably tried throwing a bounce pass back to Al Horford in front of John Wall, who scooped up the charity and raced to the basket for a score.

As Washington gained confidence and became more aggressive defensively, they trapped Thomas and disregarded Johnson on pick-and-rolls. On the next play, Bradley Beal completely ignored Johnson rolling to the basket, doubling Thomas along with Marcin Gortat and forcing Thomas to throw a crosscourt pass to Jae Crowder, who missed an open 3-pointer.

After a shot-clock violation, when Horford took too long to make a post move and shot an airball, the Wizards got a tip off a Wall shot from Gortat that was picked up by Morris, who tossed it to Beal for a 3-pointer.

The run was 7-0 then. Brad Stevens did not call a timeout.

Then came another shot-clock violation. Thomas was surrounded by four defenders in the paint and passed to Horford, who hesitated on a 3-point attempt and passed back to Thomas. He was contested by Gortat, then drove and passed to Crowder in the corner as the clock expired.

Beal responded with a fadeaway jumper after a post-up on Thomas. Thomas missed a contested floater and then Wall found Gortat for a reserve layup.

Just like that, 11-0 over 3:04, and Stevens called a timeout.

It was apparent then the Celtics’ offense was a mess and he probably needed to pull Johnson, who wasn’t being respected at all in the pick-and-roll. So that’s what Stevens did, inserting Marcus Smart to go small.

The Celtics had not been able to get off a decent shot during the run, and that continued when Crowder settled for a 3-point shot 4 feet behind the line that hit front rim. Morris then countered by making a 3.

It then got out of control when Thomas, trying to get rid of the ball after being doubled, saw Horford but didn’t see a breaking Otto Porter, who made like Darrelle Revis and scored a dunk for a 16-0 run.

After Wall went coast-to-coast after an Avery Bradley turnover for a 3-point play, Smart tried dribbling through Morris and Porter and was stripped. Morris found the cutting Beal for another 3-point play. 22-0.

Down the other end, Thomas was called for a push-off on Beal for an offensive foul before Wall made a driving layup.

Thomas lost his dribble, leading to another fast break, and Wall found the streaking Porter for another layup. 26-0.

The run included seven layups, two 3-pointers, four free throws, and one midrange jump shot. In other words, the Celtics’ offensive ineptitude led to the Wizards getting fast-break points, something they couldn’t stop until the game was essentially decided.

“One of the things, if you turn the ball over against these guys, you prefer to drop-kick it into the stands so at least you can set your defense,’’ Stevens said. “Their attack in transition killed us.’’

Stevens called a timeout after it was 11-0 and then after 26-0, where he set up an alley-oop to Horford that ended the run. The Celtics cut it to 17 on a few occasions, but they were done. Such runs have been the theme of the series and the genesis of those surges are turnovers and Washington’s transition offense.

“Probably should have used them all,’’ Stevens said of his timeouts. “But you ideally would like to have those at the end. But [if] the end doesn’t matter, you should use them all. Kind of hope it matters.’’

In Game 1, Washington coach Scott Brooks used all but one of his timeouts before the fourth quarter in an attempt to stop the Celtics’ surge. But during both major Wizards runs (22-0 in Game 3 and 26-0 in Game 4), Stevens used just two timeouts.

It may require some unorthodox methods for the Celtics to curtail these rallies because simply stopping play or making a token lineup change has done little to prevent the aggression of the Washington defense. They don’t respect Johnson on the pick-and-roll. They are going to continue to blitz Thomas and leave others to make shots. And those others can’t pass up open looks.

In that third quarter, Washington scored 16 fast-break points, 7 second-chance points, and 12 free throws. The Wizards dominated in every phase. The Celtics are not going to completely plug up these runs, but they’ll have to do something to curtail them.

It may require Stevens to make hockey-like lineup changes after timeouts. He’s essentially ignored rookie Jaylen Brown, who can be a difference-making defender, as well as Tyler Zeller, who may be better off the pick-and-roll than Johnson.

The Celtics can’t just rely on home cooking to win this series. Washington is more athletic and tenacious defensively than Boston, and the Celtics will have to resort to different ways to stop these runs, or else they won’t win again.

Gary Washburn can be reached at gwashburn@globe.com.