Heat bombard Celts from afar to level series
BOSTON—The Miami Heat unleashed a barrage of three-pointers to score a series-leveling 111-101 upset over the top-seeded Celtics in their NBA Eastern Conference playoff duel on Wednesday.The eighth-seeded Heat, playing without the injured Jimmy Butler, produced a battling performance to knot the best-of-seven-series at 1-1 as the teams head back to Florida for Game 3 on Saturday.
Tyler Herro led Miami with 24 points, part of a balanced offensive effort that saw all five Heat starters post double-digit points, but the key to the Heat’s victory was their accuracy from long-range as they went 23-for-43 attempts compared to Boston’s 12-of-32.
Herro knocked down six threes while Caleb Martin added five in his tally of 21 points.
Bam Adebayo also finished with 21 points while Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 14 and Nikola Jovic 11.
Boston, meanwhile, was led by 33 points from Jaylen Brown, with Jayson Tatum finishing with 28 in a losing effort.
The win was all the more unexpected given Miami’s 20-point drubbing by Boston in Game 1 on Sunday—something Herro said had motivated the Heat.
“We lost badly in Game 1 and everybody responded tonight, and that’s all you can ask for from a group of guys,” Herro said afterward.
Herro revealed that he had been encouraged by Butler to take on a leadership role in the absence of the injured Miami talisman.
Display of defiance
“Just before this series, JB texted me to take the team and you know lead these guys, just make every right play,” Herro said.
“It’s not all about scoring, [in] the playoffs you gotta make the right play. Our guys showed up tonight—Caleb Martin, Nikola, Jaime.”
It was another trademark display of defiance from Miami, which is aiming to emulate its playoff run of last season when they reached the NBA Finals after entering the postseason via the play-in tournament.
“We don’t even want to mention last year, this year is a whole new year,” Herro said. “We feel like we have a great group of guys. We’re not fully healthy, but we have guys who want to play and want to be out here making a difference.
“This playoff opportunity is big for everybody. We just love to compete.”
Boston star Tatum meanwhile said the Celtics had expected a backlash after their comfortable Game 1 victory.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Tatum said. —AFP
