With an overwhelming and incontestable victory from start to finish, the Boston Celtics equalized this Friday morning the Eastern final (1-1) against the Miami Heat who were totally outmatched and barely put up any resistance (102-127) at home , at the FTX Arena.
Marcus Smart, with a splendid return (24 points, 9 rebounds and 12 assists), Jayson Tatum (27 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists) and Jaylen Brown (24 points and 8 rebounds) shone in a Celtics far from doubts and the fatigue of his first game of the series (118-107). "They tried to embarrass us and they did, so I think we have to realize that ... the game can get out of hand at any time when you play against a really good team like them," the Los Angeles star lamented. from Florida, Jimmy Butler, who was once again the best of his own with 29 points and six rebounds.
Boston fused a Heat that lost 25 points at halftime, who went down 34 in the last quarter and who suffered from the great success of the Celtics throughout the game: 51.2% in field goals, 20 of 40 in triples and 21 of 23 free throws. As if that artillery wasn't enough, the Celtics also excelled on defense and limited the Heat to a poor 10 of 34 on 3-pointers.
A fundamental and differential aspect with respect to the first game was the return to the Celtics of the Dominican Al Horford and Marcus Smart, who were absent due to coronavirus and a sprain, respectively. Smart gave Boston back its characteristic intensity and aggressiveness, and Horford, who is experiencing a second youth in these playoffs, added 10 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and a block. Instead, Kyle Lowry returned to be absent in Miami, which also saw how P.J. Tucker was leaving the track with a knock to the knee.
As if thrown from the inertia of the first game, the Heat managed a promising 10 in less than five minutes thanks to the effort of Tucker and 3-pointers by Strus. However, that local boot immediately evaporated. With a gigantic run of 6-27 to close the first quarter, the Celtics radically changed the sign of the game.
The convincing 45-70 after the first half clearly reflected the show of the Celtics, who flirted with the 30 as soon as the third quarter began thanks to baskets, like a fabulous two plus one from Smart from behind the board. But the Heat reacted, reducing the difference and starting to build their morale to try to come back (65-82 with 3.46 to play).
In that delicate moment, the Celtics did not get carried away by nerves and Smart and Tatum closed the quarter recovering exactly the advantage they had at halftime (71-96). There were no more desperate attempts by the Heat, who, resigned, reserved their starters in the fourth quarter for a series that now travels to Boston to play Game 3 on Saturday and Game 4 on Monday.
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