Celtics, Heat Meet In TD Garden
The Boston Celtics will host the Miami Heat in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals at TD Garden on Saturday night. The series is currently tied at 1-1.
The Celtics needed a bounce-back performance in Game 2 of the series after being outplayed in Game 1, and that’s exactly what happened. Ime Udoka’s men tightened things up on defense and executed better on offense, and that was enough to see them getting past Miami in a comfortable fashion. Jayson Tatum had 27 points to lead the Celtics in this victory, and he also added five rebounds and five assists to his name. Marcus Smart was magnificent in his return and finished with 24 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds, ending just one board away from a triple-double. Jaylen Brown also had 24 points, and he supplemented that with eight rebounds and three assists as well. Al Horford had 10 points, three rebounds and three assists while playing outstanding defense. Grant Williams led the bench with 19 points and four rebounds, and Payton Pritchard chipped in with 10 points as well. Perhaps the most important thing is that now Boston has home-field advantage throughout the rest of the series.
The Heat looked absolutely dominant in Game 1 of the series but could not repeat that in Game 2, as they looked massively outplayed on both ends of the court. Jimmy Butler led Miami with 29 points and six rebounds, but his efforts were not enough. Gabe Vincent was the only other starter who scored in double digits for Miami, tallying 14 points, three rebounds and three assists. Victor Oladipo also had 14 points off the bench, while Tyler Herro ended with 10 while shooting 5-for-11 from the field. There’s no question Miami needs to recover from this loss and now the team is under heavy pressure. The Heat lost the home-field advantage and are forced to win at least one game in TD Garden to avoid facing a future elimination game in front of their fans.
The Celtics needed a bounce-back performance in Game 2 of the series after being outplayed in Game 1, and that’s exactly what happened. Ime Udoka’s men tightened things up on defense and executed better on offense, and that was enough to see them getting past Miami in a comfortable fashion. Jayson Tatum had 27 points to lead the Celtics in this victory, and he also added five rebounds and five assists to his name. Marcus Smart was magnificent in his return and finished with 24 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds, ending just one board away from a triple-double. Jaylen Brown also had 24 points, and he supplemented that with eight rebounds and three assists as well. Al Horford had 10 points, three rebounds and three assists while playing outstanding defense. Grant Williams led the bench with 19 points and four rebounds, and Payton Pritchard chipped in with 10 points as well. Perhaps the most important thing is that now Boston has home-field advantage throughout the rest of the series.
The Heat looked absolutely dominant in Game 1 of the series but could not repeat that in Game 2, as they looked massively outplayed on both ends of the court. Jimmy Butler led Miami with 29 points and six rebounds, but his efforts were not enough. Gabe Vincent was the only other starter who scored in double digits for Miami, tallying 14 points, three rebounds and three assists. Victor Oladipo also had 14 points off the bench, while Tyler Herro ended with 10 while shooting 5-for-11 from the field. There’s no question Miami needs to recover from this loss and now the team is under heavy pressure. The Heat lost the home-field advantage and are forced to win at least one game in TD Garden to avoid facing a future elimination game in front of their fans.