With a Jayson Tatum overwhelming, the boston celtics they overwhelmed this Monday the Miami Heat 102-82 to even the Eastern Conference final of the NBA to two wins a side. Tatum, 24, and a three-time All-Star, broke it with 31 points, eight rebounds and five assists., supported by the Dominican Al Horford, who stood out under the boards with 13 rebounds. In the Heat the only one who was up to the task was the veteran substitute Victor Oladipo with 23 points, four rebounds and six assists. Game five of this best-of-seven series will be played on Wednesday in Miami. The winner of this cap will face the winner of the Western Conference in the NBA Finalsseries that the Golden State Warriors win 3-0 to the Dallas Mavericks.
The match
In the first quarter the Celtics took an early 18-1 lead, with Miami missing on their first 14 shots. Boston came out aggressive with a first quarter for history as they won it 29-11. The Celtics finally went into the break with a wide difference of 24 points (57-33). That difference grew to 30 points early in the third quarter. when the Celtics capped a 10-4 offense (67-37)which ended with a long shot by Tatum.
Relentless Tatum. (AP)
The Celtics controlled the defense in the paint early on, holding star Jimmy Butler and point guard Kyle Lowry to just six and three points, respectively. The Boston quintet, who left Kivin Durant’s Nets and Giannis Antetokoumpo’s champion Bucks on the way, also widely dominated the tables by beating the Miami team in the rebounding section 60-39.
Shooter Payton Pritchard had 14 points for the Celtics. Derrick White added 13 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and Robert Williams finished with 12 points and nine sacks.
Al Horford and his celebration from the bank. (AFP)
Miami’s five starters were tightly controlled with lackluster performances by Butler (six points), Lowry (three points), PJ Tucker (no points), Max Strus (no points) and Bam Adebayo (nine points). They all left the game in the fourth quarter.
The Celtics were without Marcus Smart, the Defensive Player of the Year, who has a sprained right ankle that he sustained in the second half of game three. For their part, the Heat were without Tyler Herro, who suffered a groin injury late in Game 3. Butler was in the starting lineup after missing the second half of Game 3 with inflammation in his right knee.
Meanwhile, Lowry (sprained left hamstring), Strus (sprained left hamstring) and Tucker (sprained left knee) tested for injuries before the game and were cleared to play.
Oladipo gave it his all but… (AFP)
The match program
— EASTERN CONFERENCE
– Miami Heat (1) vs. Boston Celtics (2) (Series tied 2-2)
Tuesday, May 17: Heat – Celtics 118-107
Thursday, May 19: Heat – Celtics 102-127
Saturday May 21: Celtics – Heat 103-109
Monday, May 23: Celtics – Heat 102-82
Wednesday, May 25: Heat – Celtics
Friday May 27: Celtics – Heat
​Sunday, May 29: Heat – Celtics (if necessary)
— WESTERN CONFERENCE
– Golden State Warriors (3) vs. Dallas Mavericks (4) (Warriors lead series 3-0)
Wednesday, May 18: Warriors – Mavericks 112-87
Friday May 20: Warriors – Mavericks 126-117
Sunday May 22: Mavericks – Warriors 100-109
Tuesday May 24: Mavericks – Warriors
Thursday May 26: Warriors – Mavericks (if necessary)
Saturday May 28: Mavericks – Warriors (if necessary)
Monday, May 30: Warriors – Mavericks (if necessary)
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NBA Playoffs: Boston, with a hot Tatum, tied the series against Miami (2-2)