It took a set of losses and a lot of disappointment boiling over, but something lastly clicked for the Boston Celtics on Saturday night.
After falling under a 2-0 hole, the Celtics got a dominant 117-106 win over the Miami Heat in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals at Walt Disney World.
The Celtics flew to a dominant win in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals on Saturday. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) More.
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” They came out, Boston did, with terrific force in this video game, and you do need to credit them for that,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra stated, via Fox Sports Florida. “They sustained it for the better bulk of the video game. We were on our heels the majority of the video game … They were having fun with fantastic force.”.
” This is a really unique group, an actually excellent group,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens stated, through Ben Golliver of the Washington Post. Tyler Herro added 22 points off the bench, and Jimmy Butler finished with 17 points.” They came out, Boston did, with fantastic force in this game, and you do have to credit them for that,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra stated, via Fox Sports Florida. “They sustained it for the better bulk of the game. We were on our heels most of the video game … They were playing with great force.”.
” We have to end up games much better,” said Jaylen Brown, who led the Celtics with 26 points, via Keith Smith. “We didnt finish the video game as good as we would have liked, but we played some great basketball today.”.
Jayson Tatum added 25 points, 14 rebounds and 8 assists in the win. Smart finished with 20 points, 11 of which was available in the 4th quarter.
Gordon Hayward returned to the lineup for the very first time considering that suffering an ankle injury in Game 1 of their opening-round playoff series last month, too. He ended up with six points in 30 minutes off the bench.
Bam Adebayo led the Heat with 27 points and 16 rebounds. Tyler Herro included 22 points off the bench, and Jimmy Butler ended up with 17 points. They shot just 27 percent from behind the arc as a team in the loss– which marked just their 2nd defeat so far in the playoffs.
” This is an actually special group, a truly great group,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said, via Ben Golliver of the Washington Post. “The first time we were pressed to more feelings that challenged us, we got much better. Thats encouraging.”
Celtics make it through late push after dominant start
Boston, after entering halftime with a 13-point lead, quickly pushed their lead to 19 in the third quarter. The Heat cut the game back to single digits late in the period, Boston ended the quarter on a fast 7-3 run before knocking down a set of 3-pointers to start the 4th to immediately restore full control.
Miami made its relocation with simply more than 4 minutes remaining, nevertheless. The Heat kicked off a 16-5 run– behind seven fast points from Duncan Robinson, who drew a flagrant foul on Jaylen Brown– to cut the game to simply 5 points with less than a minute left..
Already, though, it was too late. Marcus Smart sank 4 complimentary tosses down the stretch to fend off the run and lead the Celtics to the 11-point win, their very first of the series..
” We werent able to consist of the ball all night. You need to credit them.”.
Head Coach Erik Spoelstra breaks down the 117-106 Game 3 loss to the Boston Celtics. pic.twitter.com/DvPLcA0qEr— FOX Sports Florida & & Sun (@FOXSportsFL) September 20, 2020.
