Derrick White had 24 factors, together with six from three-point vary, and Boston dominated Miami 110-97 in Game 5 to increase the Eastern Conference finals.
Marcus Smart had 23 factors and 5 steals, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown completed with 21 factors apiece on Thursday night time and the Celtics claimed their second straight win and trimmed the Heat’s collection result in 3-2.
It retains alive Boston’s hopes of changing into the primary crew in NBA historical past to beat a 3-0 deficit to win a collection. Teams beforehand in that place are 0-150 all-time.
Game 6 is Saturday in Miami.
A day after the NHL’s Florida Panthers punched the franchise’s first ticket to the Stanley Cup Finals since 1996, for the second straight recreation the Heat had been denied a spot within the NBA Finals.
Duncan Robinson led Miami with 18 factors. Bam Adebayo added 16 factors and eight rebounds, whereas Jimmy Butler had 14 factors, 5 rebounds and 5 assists however sat out the ultimate 9:47 of the sport.
It was Butler’s lowest-scoring recreation of the playoffs. He had 16 factors in Game 3, a blowout win by Miami.
Boston entered the day simply 4-5 at TD Garden this postseason. But with a raucous house crowd behind them, the Celtics thrived on their power and by no means trailed.
They dived for unfastened balls, outfought the Heat for rebounds and located one another for layups and dunks in transition as they led by as much as 20 factors within the first half.
Miami reduce into it, however Boston saved flattening threes and grew their benefit as excessive as 96-72 within the fourth quarter.
Boston’s followers reignited a “Beat the Heat!” chant that hadn’t been prevalent since Game 1.
The Heat began Kyle Lowry at level guard after Gabe Vincent was dominated out with a sprained left ankle earlier within the day.
Smart stripped Adebayo on Miami’s opening possession, igniting a quick break and layup on the opposite finish by Tatum.
Then, with the sport tied at 4, Tatum bought free within the lane for a monstrous two-handed dunk. He held on the rim afterward and continued his celebration when he landed, resulting in a technical foul.
It did not cease the Celtics’ momentum, as their first-quarter lead grew as excessive as 23-7. Boston ended the interval with a 35-20 lead, punctuated by a triple by White on the buzzer.
Tatum had 12 factors within the opening 12 minutes, with the Celtics outscoring the Heat 21-6 from past the arc, draining 7 of their 12 makes an attempt.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
