Tatum’s comeback and Celtics crush Miami Heat to tie East Finals | NBA
3 min readThe news that Marcus Smart, Defender of the Year, was suspended for game four minutes before the ball went up. But Boston Celtics fans didn’t even have time to worry. On Monday night, in Boston, the team ran over the Miami Heat 29-11 in the first quarter. They won 102-82 and tied the Eastern Conference Finals 2-2 and Jason Tatum, who scored 10 points in Game Three, responded with 31.
The Heat, who didn’t have Tyler Herro with groin pain, missed the first 14 shots of the match. The 11 points scored was the worst mark in franchise history in a period of playoffs. It was enough for the Celtics to open 22 points with a 32-point difference in the third quarter. Then both coaches gave the key players a break, and really focused on Game Five, Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. in Miami.
Jason Tatum dunks in the Celtics – Photo: Elsa/Getty Images
The Heat players scored 18 points, the worst playoff mark by a team since the 1970-71 season. Until now. The previous figure was 25 points. Pam Adebayo scored 9. Jimmy Butler scored 3 of 14 attempts on court for a total of 6 points. Kyle Lowry scored 3 points with 1 of 6 off the court. Victor Oladipo came off the bench to score 23, 18 of the team’s 33 points in the first half.
The Celtics didn’t have to work hard to secure victory. Jason Tatum scored 31 points, with 8 rebounds and 5 assists, and no other player exceeded 14 points (Payton Pritchard). Smart was rejected with ankle problems, but she has a chance to return next Wednesday. The series is now the best of the three, with Game 6 in Boston and Game 7 likely in Florida.
Celtics
Jason Tatum (31 points, 8 res, 5 sets)
Payton Pritchard 14 points
Derek White (13 points, 8 res, 6 sets, 3 steals)
Robert Williams (12 points, 9 reps)
Jaylen Brown (12 points, 7 races)
Horford (5 points, 13 res, 4 blocks)
the heat
Victor Oladipo (23 points, 4 res, 6 sixes, 4 baskets of three)
Duncan Robinson (14 points, 4 res, 4 baskets of three)
Caleb Martin (12 points, 6 reps)
Pam Adebayo (9 points, 6 res)
Jimmy Butler (6 points, 7 res)
Jason Tatum smiles during Game 4 against the Miami Heat – Photo: Elsa/Getty Images
help
Celtics 21
Heat 22
Points resulting from transformations
Celtics 13
heat 7
Victor Oladipo climbs to the basket – Photo: Paul Rutherford USA TODAY Sports
points in the bottle
Celtics 38
temperature 28
Second Chance Points
Celtics 10
heat 7
Transfer points
Celtics 9
heat 12
field shots
Celtics 31/78 (39.7%)
Heat 30/90 (33.3%)
three shots
Celtex 8/34 (23.5%)
Heat 14/36 (38.9%)
free throws
Celtex 32/38 (84.2%)
Heat 8/14 (57.1%)
Scoring chart – Photo: NBA
First period – Celtics 11-29Miami missed its first 14 shots from the field and had 11 points marking the worst mark in franchise history in the playoffs. Boston took advantage and opened 22 teams. Tatum started with 12 points. White, who replaced Marcus Smart, scored 10. Butler scored 4, 2 for 7 on the field.
Second period – Celtics 28 to 22Victor Oladipo scored 18 points in the first half. The rest of the Heat 15 team. The disappointing performance cost the visitors a 27-point lead. Tatum contributed 12 more to the finish, for a total of 24 (12 free throws alone). The Celtics dominated in every respect. He scores from 57 to 33.
Jimmy Butler shoots surrounded by opponents – Photo: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
Third half – tie at 19: In the scheduled match rhythm, none of the teams were forced into the third quarter. Tatum added 7 points to a total of 31 to lead Boston. No other Celtics player has won more than 12, but he didn’t have to. On the flip side, coach Eric Spoelstra gave Butler, Laurie and Tucker a break in the middle of the quarter. He scores from 76 to 52.
Fourth period – heat 30 to 26: The last part was played by the two reserve teams, and the game is already settled. The series returns to Miami in a best-of-three match to determine the East’s representative in the NBA Finals. Tyler Herro and Marcus Smart could be game 5 boosters.
Match 1 (17/05) – Preliminary Round 118 x 107 Celtics
Game 2 (5/19) – Heat 102 x 127 Celtics
Game 3 (5/21) – Celtics 103 x 109 Heat
Game 4 (23/05) – Celtics 102 x 82 heat
Game 5 (25/05) – Heat vs Celtics, 21:30
Match 6 (27/05) – Celtics vs Heat, 21:30
Match 7 (5/29) – Heat vs Celtics, 9:30 p.m. (if required)
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