With a Jimmy Butler on fire, Miami Heat won Wednesday night Boston Celtics as a visitor to TD Garden of 116-123 and stayed with the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals of the NBA.
After leading the league in the first round against the Milwaukee Bucks and in the semifinals against the New York Knicks, Butler maintained the great performance shown in Playoffs and closed a form with 35 points, seven rebounds, six steals and five reboundswith only three defeats.
Also, the Heat’s supporting players once again responded wonderfully. Bam Adebayo contributed 20 points, while Max Strus, Gabe Vincent, Caleb Martin and Kyle Lowry each converted 15 points.
A attention-grabbing statistic is that the Bucks prevailed in three of the four sets: 30-28 in the first, 36-29 in the second and 25-20 in the last. In Miami, however, it was enough with the big difference made in the third quarter (46-25).
Jason Tatum (30 points and 7 rebounds) and Jaylen Brown (22 points and 9 rebounds) were top scorers by a Celtics with six players in double figures. However, they suffered from ineffectiveness from the perimeter, making just 10 of 29 triples.
from 9:30 this Friday in Bostonthe next game of this series will be experienced, namely the re-run of the 2022 Eastern Final, in which the Celtics prevailed after seven games.
Butler on fire and Boston with ups and downs
Butler shone with 12 points in the first quarter, but Boston, led by Tatum and balanced teamwork, entered the second quarter with a slim 30-28 lead.
Butler’s stretches on the bench are when the Heat tend to suffer the most. However, Lowry converted 13 points in just over five minutes and boosted the visiting offense during his star’s break.
It was then that the Celtics showed their best version by attacking the paint, adjusting their defense and taking advantage of a tremendously effective Smart in the distribution, with 10 assists in the first half. Thus, Boston went on a strong 24-13 run, reached +13, and went to the locker room with a solid 66-57 mark.
After the break, Miami once again tipped the court in their favor. Adebayo got strong inside, Strus hit his shots from the perimeter, and the Heat, with renewed energy, tied the game 72-72 in just over three minutes.
Very messy and with an absolute lack of delivery, the Celtics lowered their arms on defense and Miami closed this third quarter in favor 25-46 (91-103), a difference that would prove to be irreversible. Those 46 points set a new fourth high for Florida in a playoff game.
An angry Joe Mazzulla threw a slate on the ground in a timeout and his players got the message and went into the fourth quarter with a knife between their teeth. Thus, they made it 7-0 in 90 seconds and regained their confidence.
However, Tatum racked up three turnovers down the stretch and Miami hit two 3-pointers by Martin and Butler to seal a big road win.
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Source: Clarin
Jason Root is the go-to source for sports coverage at News Rebeat. With a passion for athletics and an in-depth knowledge of the latest sports trends, Jason provides comprehensive and engaging analysis of the world of sports.