Even if their feet remain at the edge of the precipice, the Boston Celtics have regained some color and avoided a sweeping sweep to the air of humiliation by preventing the Miami Heat from closing the NBA Eastern Conference Finals in four dry games.
Forced to win under penalty of brutal elimination, Boston won on Tuesday, May 23, on the Florida floor to return to 3-1 in the series.
“We were down 3-0, but we didn’t put too much pressure on ourselves. We try to take one game at a time. We weren’t thinking about winning four in a row tonight, we were just trying to salvage our season and that’s what we did,” commented Jayson Tatum, who scored 34 points.
“Saved”, she is not yet, because the road remains long before dreaming of a second championship final in a row. They will have to chain three more successes in a row to reverse this highly compromised situation. However, in 150 occasions in history, never has a team trailing 3-0 won a series in seven games.
La locomotive Tatum
The Heat therefore remain on favorable waivers to try to play a seventh final, with the objective of winning a fourth championship title (after 2006, 2012 and 2013), but they will have to be wary of an opponent who has regained his fighting virtues. , forty-eight hours after giving up in game number 3.
And as often when the green machine gets carried away, Tatum (14 out of 22 in shots, 11 rebounds, 7 assists) acts as a locomotive, setting the tone and dictating the tempo, unlike his failure in the previous match. This is what happened in the third quarter, his 14 points having largely contributed to the beautiful escape of the C’s (88-79) by inflicting a 38-23 on the Floridians.
“Great scorers eventually find a way to score at some point. You don’t expect a great player like Tatum to have many sleepless nights. But you have to try to make it as difficult as possible for him,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said.
With a remarkable overall address (51.2% success, 18 out of 45 behind the arc), Boston then continued to widen the gap, with the contributions of Derrick White and Jaylen Brown, authors of 16 and 17 dots.
Butler alone resistant
“I think since the start of the series, we have generated good shots, but that does not prevent mistakes and sometimes the shots do not go in, further analyzed Tatum. Tonight, we played in rhythm and with determination, we stopped their offensives, played against… And when you see the double steps and the free throws going in, the jump shots come in much more easily. »
Symbol of the Celtics’ newfound virtues: substitute Grant Williams, author of 14 points and a remarkable counter on Jimmy Butler, without this time provoking the latter as he made the mistake in the second game, sounding the star’s alarm clock . The latter was the only one able to resist in the third quarter by scoring 15 of his 29 points (9 rebounds). For the first time in the series, his teammates could not raise their level of play, even if Gabe Vincent (17 points), who hurt his knee in the process, and Caleb Martin (16 points), n have not failed.
A last effort is to be made and this defeat should as such serve as a reminder to Miami, which hopes to join the Denver Nuggets, qualified for the final series after sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers. Because Boston, on probation, will do everything to instil doubt in the Floridians, Thursday at home during match number 5, just as decisive.
