Celts
MIAMI (AP) — Derrick White scored a career-high 38 points, Jayson Tatum added 20 points and 10 rebounds and the Boston Celtics beat the Miami Heat 102-88 on Monday night to go 3 of their first game within the Eastern Conference. 1 within the lead -round series.
Jaylen Brown scored 17 points and Jrue Holiday had 11 for the top-seeded Celtics, who lost Kristaps Porzingis to a right calf injury in the primary half. Boston won for the sixth straight time in Miami and improved to 14-3 within the Heat's last 17 home games.
Bam Adebayo finished the sport with 25 points, 17 rebounds and five assists for Miami, which was sold out – including Lionel Messi – but again played without injured starters Jimmy Butler (knee) and Terry Rozier (neck). The Heat only managed 84 points in Game 3 and struggled offensively again in Game 4. Tyler Herro scored 19 points and Caleb Martin had 18 for the eighth-seeded Heat.
The Celtics can advance to the second round on Wednesday in the event that they host Game 5. The Boston-Miami winner will face the Cleveland-Orlando winner within the East semifinals; that the Cavaliers-Magic series ends on Friday on the earliest.
But the Celtics now have injury concerns as Porzingis tears his jersey over his face in desperation after injuring it late in the primary half. And with 5:04 left, the drama increased again when Tatum tried to shoot a three-pointer after a foul. Adebayo defended the dead ball play and Tatum rolled his left ankle – but stayed within the play – after Adebayo entered his landing zone. The referees ruled for an obvious one against Adebayo and a technical error against Al Horford.
The excellent news for Boston: History says this streak is nearly over.
This is the twenty ninth time a Boston team has taken a 3-1 lead in a best-of-seven series. The Celtics won all 28 of the previous series, including seven times within the NBA Finals and a first-round series against Miami in 2010 – the last games the Heat played before luring LeBron James and Chris Bosh to South Florida and forming a superteam around Dwyane Wade.
Miami simply couldn't sustain here. White had 16 points in the primary quarter because the Celtics built a 34-24 lead. And irrespective of what the Heat did on defense, the offense couldn't pick up the slack.
Consider: The Celtics had 34 points after 12 minutes, and it took the Heat nearly 23 minutes — almost all the first half — to achieve the 34-point mark. Miami had just 59 points in three quarters, matching a season low set in the primary game of this series in Boston.
image credit : www.boston.com