With an unquestionable display of basketball, the Boston Celtics stunned the Miami Heat (110-97) this Thursday, reaffirming the win they had in Miami two days earlier to move closer to 2-3 in the NBA East Finals and their ambitions of achieving an unprecedented comeback after a 0-3 loss in the series.
The Celtics are at their best against the wall. The TD Garden’s was their fourth victory in these playoffs in life and death games and the pressure is mounting for the Heat, with Joe Mazzulla’s men set to arrive in Miami on Saturday for game six with wind in the back, despite the fact that they continue to fall. In the series.
It’s a battle against history for the Celtics, 17-time NBA champions. No franchise has managed to advance from a 3-0 loss in a playoff series in 150 precedents. After his exhibition at the TD Garden, Boston is halfway there.
The Celtics got used to the ups and downs, having already had a very slow start to the regular season last year before taking off and flying to the Finals against the Golden State Warriors. Even that season, however, Boston was far from invincible at the Garden and in two years his record at home in the playoffs was 10-11 before this clash.
The answer was clear and strong. The TD Garden staged a monologue from the Celtics, who took advantage from the start and never let it go, except their income dropped in the final minutes, with no stars on the court. They always win this postseason when they score over 40% on three-point shots and this Thursday they sealed 16 of their 39 attempts (41%).
Derrick White was the leading scorer with 24 points and a stellar six-of-eight on three-pointers. Marcus Smart scored 23 points, with four 3-pointers, Jayson Tatum scored 21 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists, and Jaylen Brown scored 21.
In the Heat, who still can’t count on Tyler Herro due to a broken hand and who couldn’t place Gabe Vincent because of a sprained ankle, Jimmy Butler only got fourteen points and Bam Adebayo scored 16. Erik’s team Spoelstra had a good contribution from his bench, with 18 points from Duncan Robinson, 15 from Haywood Highsmith and 14 from Caleb Martin, but he never had an advantage in the game.
THE CELTICS CAN BE BITED OUT
Played to a packed TD Garden prepared for big occasions, the Celtics came out to bite from the first, aggressive on every play, powerful from the three-point line and seasoned in rebounding.
Four Celtics players already had double digits in a first-half 61-point lead, led by Jaylen Brown’s 15 and Derrick White’s 14; Tatum was twelve and Marcus Smart was thirteen.
It was the latter, last year’s top defenseman, who hit the triple in the first period that culminated in a 12-0 run by the Celtics to start country at center (18-5). In that play, the work of Horford stood out, who captured one of his three offensive rebounds in the first half and provided an assist.
Another triple, this time signed by White at the first-quarter buzzer, sent clear signals to the Heat, who trailed by fifteen points after the first period and approached the deficit of twenty in the second period after another 12 -3 (61-41).
Boston shot in more than 40% in that first half and already had thirteen rematch points in the first half.
WHITE, A GUNTER
In both Game 1 and Game 2 of this series, the Celtics blew double digits in the Garden. They didn’t make that mistake again this Thursday. Dominant from start to finish, they continued to hurt the Heat from 3-point range, fueled by White, a marksman and Marcus Smart.
The advantage reached 23 points, with Tatum also devoting himself to bringing rhythm to his teammates (five assists), and the Heat, despite ten points from Bam Adebayo, found no answers to contain the local momentum.
White finished his game with six of eight on three-pointers and was the leading scorer for the Celtics who extended their lead to 24 points at 96-72.
All this turned the final minutes into a formality and Mazzulla rested his stars with his eyes already on the sixth game. Spoelstra did the same with his leaders.
Of course, the Celtics’ loss of concentration was used by the Heat to take ten points, even though the game was already doomed.
A series that seemed doomed three days ago is now open, with the Celtics halfway through a historic miracle.
Source: El heraldo

I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.