#Boston #slaps #Miami
How amazing! Euphoric in Game 2 when they equalized in Miami (127-102), the Celtics had come down from their little cloud on the occasion of their return to TD Garden, living in particular a nightmare in the first half by adding 26 points difference to finally lose. 109-103.
What scenario, therefore, was he going to be able to assume in this Game 4? Unsurprisingly, it was Boston’s turn to take control of the game and, like the last two games, it was an opportunity for an impressive show of force!
The locals effectively took the game from the right, between the strokes of genius from Derrick White, the impact of Robert Williams III on both sides of the court and the mastery of a found Jayson Tatum.
In finesse with the right shoulder, “JT” still offered a great alley-oop to validate his team’s perfect start, while the score was 16-1! The Heat clearly bottomed out by missing their first 14 attempts in the game and then trailing 29-11 after 12 minutes on a 3-pointer by Payton Pritchard and three shots by Jayson Tatum.
Jaylen Brown and Grant Williams from afar took over from the Tatum-Williams III duo to finish off the point before the break, despite all the effort of Victor Oladipo (18 of his 23 points), accompanied at the end of the point by the 3 points from Kyle Lowry and 2+1 from Bam Adebayo, author of his third passing foul.
Down 24 at halftime (57-33), the Floridians had had a good outlook in the previous game of the recipe to recover from a failed first half. Except, unlike the Celtics in Game 3, the Heat didn’t have a prideful reaction, choosing reason and wisdom to preserve their strength for Game 5 at American Airlines Arena.
The comeback was marked by the defensive impact of the Horford-Williams III duo and the accuracy of the attacks completed by the “Jay’s”, Tatum and Brown (73-42). At +24 with 12 minutes remaining after a 3-pointer by Jayson Tatum, Boston was able to finish without trembling to win 102-82 while the TD Garden burned until the end, between the 3-pointers and the blocking by Al Horford and Payton. Pritchard baskets. See you tomorrow in Miami for the rest!
WHAT TO REMEMBER
– History. Story to measure the extent of the disaster in the first quarter: Never in their playoff history have the Heat scored so little in the first 12 minutes of a game with 11 small points scored, at 3/20 shooting! The game could not have started worse for Erik Spoelstra’s men who attacked with a 0/14 shot until Victor Oladipo stopped the bleeding. It was already too late…
– An intractable defense. Floridians have felt the return to the game of Robert Williams III. Barred from Game 3 with a sore knee, the Celtics center was simply imperial with his deterrent and counters, not to mention his contribution on offense to the end. At his side, he was also able to count on the profession of Al Horford, also very valuable in the local defensive company, to scrape all the balls, make his presence felt in the opposing interiors and swallow rebounds. A true process of destruction that worked perfectly for Boston. Miami was at 52 points after three quarters, all without Marcus Smart, the best defender of the season, hit in the ankle.
TOPS/FLOPS
✅ Jayson Tatum. The Celtics star had had a nightmare in the first half of Game 3. Even hit in the shoulder, and manhandled on the bench from the game’s first timeout, the winger redeemed himself by scoring 12 points in the first quarter and 12 from again in the second, all punctuated by tasty serves. He stayed the course from then on without pushing too hard.
✅ Al-Horford. Zero points scored in the game before the start of the fourth quarter, but a phenomenal impact with each action translated into 13 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 blocks. The “Big Al” of the big nights, until the end of the match!
✅ Victor Oladipo. The only Miami player who has made his game. Unsurprisingly, the full-back took advantage of Tyler Herro’s absence to show that he was well and truly back on track.
⛔ jimmy butler. In a tough inning, the Heat leader pushed a little, and it really didn’t work for him.
⛔ miami actors. They are the ones who can shake up an indecisive party. However, during this game where nothing was right for the Heat, they were the ones who put pressure on the Floridians, between Max Strus’s 0/7 shot or PJ Tucker’s 0/4, not to mention the new performance without relief from Kyle Lowry, still far from his best level tonight (1/6).
THE CONTINUATION
Return to Miami this Wednesday for Game 5, which kicks off at 2:30 a.m.
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