The Celtics are already halfway there. They have gone from 0-3 to 2-3 in the NBA Eastern Conference finals against the Miami Heat. But, above all, they have returned to believe in themselves, to rediscover themselves as the powerful and complete team that they are. Gritting their teeth on defense and fighting for every rebound as if it were their life in it, Boston have subdued the Heat (110-97) on Thursday in the fifth game of the series and see a historic comeback at hand.
Never in the 149 times in NBA history has a team lost the first three games of a best-of-seven matchup has it been able to come back. And it remains to be seen that this will be the first time, of course. But so far they have placed 2-3, something that had only happened in 14 of those 149 times. The next hurdle for the Celtics, who won at home on Thursday, will be Saturday's visit to Miami.
It will be an exciting showdown. Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and theirs are playing at home to go to the NBA finals after having qualified for the playoffs by the hair, as the eighth seed of the Eastern Conference. Two games have already been played in the series in Miami, with one win for each team. Miami is still stinging from last year's conference final, when Butler, the local star, missed the decisive shot in the seventh and final game, which he was then playing at home.
Jimmy Playoff Butler was instrumental in the Miami Heat eliminating the best team of the regular season, the Milwaukee Bucks of Giannis Antetokounmpo, who were favorites to win the ring. He was also the key player in the playoffs against the New York Knicks.
His game against Boston has faded after the first two games. In the third the whole team played at a high level, but in the fourth and fifth the Celtics have defended him very above. Miami has also missed Gabe Vincent, who was becoming the revelation of the tie and who has swelled the injured list along with Victor Oladipo and Tyler Herro.
On Thursday, the Celtics came out ready to secure the game. They were 20-5 on the scoreboard shortly after starting thanks to a great defensive concentration and since then they have maintained a comfortable distance throughout the game. The first quarter ended 35-20 and at halftime it was 61-44. Halfway through the third, with more than 20 points of difference, the match seemed doomed. The inconsequential last quarter was reached with a 90-72. Many of the starters watched the end from the bench, already thinking about the next game.
The Celtics are LOCKED in.
8 steals in the 1st half.
Halftime on TNT 🍿
BOS: 61
MIA: 44 pic.twitter.com/dagyncr9WI
— NBA (@NBA) May 26, 2023
The Celtics have not only defended like a pineapple, they have also attacked as a team, with several players very toned. The power and versatility of Tatum (21 points, 8 rebounds and 11 assists) have been joined by the bombardment of triples by Derrick White (24 points) and Marcus Smart (23 points) and the success of Jaylen Brown (21 points). Four players with more than 20 points in the match. The statistics of three-pointers, lost balls and steals explain the difference in the final score.
Boston traveled to Philadelphia to face the 76ers in the conference semifinal with a 2-3 loss in the series. They won there and then crushed them at home with a display from Tatum. So they have already traveled a path similar to the one they now have ahead. Miami still has two bullets in the chamber, but it would be very dangerous for them to leave their homework undone in Miami and play everything to one card in the seventh game, next Monday, in Boston.
In the NBA finals await the winners of the Western Conference, the Denver Nuggets, who swept the Los Angeles Lakers. Led by Serbian center Nikola Jokić and guard Jamal Murray, the Nuggets have reached the first NBA finals in their history, taking revenge on the Lakers, their traditional executioners.
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