The Boston Celtics managed to get closer to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Celtics won 117-106 and trail the Heat 2-1.
Jayson Tatum had 25 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists to lead the Celtics win. Jaylen Brown also helped out with 26 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals.
In the loss, Heat center Bam Adebayo was electric with 27 points and 16 rebounds. Tyler Herro contributed 22 points and four assists off the bench.
Boston created separation in the first half, going up by 13 points at halftime. The Celtics led by as much as 20 points in the fourth quarter. Like the previous two games, the Heat stormed back from a double digit deficit. This time though, the Heat could not get closer than five points late in the game.
For the Heat, though they made another comeback, their penchant for falling behind early finally caught up with them.
“We’ve got to start the game how we start the fourth,” Adebayo said after the game. “I feel like we’re not the type of team where we can go through the motions and try and figure out everything in the first half, and then in the third or fourth, we just try to turn it on. It’s not like that. We are not that type of team.”
Miami might need a stronger dose of Jimmy Butler in their offense. Known for letting the offense come to him, Butler was relatively quiet with 17 points. He had just nine points through the first three quarters.
Celtics forward Gordon Hayward returned from a sprained ankle that has caused him to miss 12 playoff games. Hayward had six points, five rebounds and four assists in 31 minutes.
The Celtics-Heat series will not resume until Wednesday night. The Lakers and Nuggets play Game Two of the Western Conference Finals tonight.
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