The Boston Celtics managed to miraculously win Game 5 of their Eastern Conference Final series against the Miami Heat after having been on the back foot for long periods of the game thereby forcing a Game 6.
During the early exchanges, nothing went right for the Celtics. They missed 11 of their first 12 shots on Friday, and they were fortunate to trail by just seven points at halftime, considering all of the Miami Heat’s second-chance opportunities and free throws.
But then they burst into life suddenly.
With elimination looming, Jayson Tatum bought property in the paint and the free-throw line.
Daniel Theis drew heat maps all over the place on both ends, challenging shots and hitting floaters.
Kemba Walker’s pick-and-roll game went from average to a 100, Marcus Smart hit a stepback 3, Jaylen Brown filled in the gaps and Boston went on a massive, season-saving run.
Tatum finished with 31 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists in the 121-108 victory, shooting 8-for-22 but making 12 of his 14 free throw attempts.
Jaylen Brown had 28 points and eight boards. Kemba added 15 points and seven assists, but his game-high plus-21 was no accident: Much of the Celtics’ second-half success was based on him getting into the teeth of Miami’s defence.
Watch Game 5 highlights below
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“We knew we had to play better. We were fighting for our life. It was going to take a collective effort in the second half, and that’s what we did,” Tatum says after the game.
The win sends the series to a Game 6 in the best-of-seven in the early hours of Monday morning, but the fifth-seeded Heat retains a 3-2 advantage and needs just one more win to advance to their first NBA Finals since 2014.
“Our deal was to come out and play, come out and compete,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens says. “Give it our best shot. I thought we played pretty well in the second half. We are going to have to do it again and again because of the position we are in.”
The Celtics, for the first time since using a finishing three-game sweep to eliminate Philadelphia in the 1981 Eastern Finals en route to the NBA championship, are attempting to overcome a 3-1 series deficit.
Miami Heat coach, Erik Spoelstra, says: “[Boston Celtics] played great in the second half. They deserved and earned what they got. We understand how tough it is to win in the playoffs. We did not compete hard enough defensively, and we paid the price for that.”
Goran Dragic finished with 23 points on 8-for-17 shooting, Duncan Robinson had 20 points, but 17 of them were in the first half, Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler had eight points and eight rebounds apiece, but as soon as Boston got in the zone, Miami couldn’t pull the wool over their eyes anymore.
The Heat shot a miserable 7 for 36 from deep, and their offence collapsed when Boston’s rim protection improved. The Celtics led by as many as 19.
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