Celtics

BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – TD Garden has not exactly been the comfy confines but it will have to do for the crucial and pivotol Game 5.

Members of the Boston Celtics were talking about a return trip to South Florida mere moments after the team averted a sweep at the hands of the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals.

While talk is cheap, the conversation will become real if the Celtics fend off elimination for the second consecutive contest on Thursday when they host the Heat in Game 5 at the Boston Garden.

“We want to come back to Miami,” Jaylen Brown said after the second-seeded Celtics avoided the brooms with a 116-99 victory in Game 4 on Tuesday. They still trail 3-1 in the best-of-seven series to the eighth-seeded Heat.

Jayson Tatum scored 25 of his 33 points in the second half Tuesday, with 14 coming during a third quarter in which Boston outscored Miami by a 38-23 margin. All told, Tatum made 11 of 15 shots from the floor after intermission.

Tatum wasn’t alone, either. The Celtics shot 51.2 percent from the floor (43 of 84) for the game and 40 percent from 3-point range (18 of 45).

“Yeah, everybody was in good spirits, everybody was upbeat, and as cliche as it sounds, we just tried to take it one game at a time,” Tatum said. “We didn’t play well the first three games, we didn’t deserve to win, but we didn’t want that to define us, define the season.

“We’ve still got a long uphill battle to go. But (Tuesday) was a good start. Just to try to carry this momentum toward Thursday.”

TD Garden hasn’t been kind to the home tenants in the postseason, however. The Celtics have lost five of their past seven games in Boston.

That said, the Heat had won all six of their home playoff games before Tuesday’s tumble in Miami.

The Heat were denied in their first opportunity to punch their ticket to the NBA Finals for the second time in four seasons. They also were thwarted in their first chance to join the 1998-99 New York Knicks as the lone eighth-seeded teams in the league to advance to the NBA Finals.

Jimmy Butler, who recorded team highs in points (29) and rebounds (nine) on Tuesday, refused to get too down after seeing the team’s initial opportunities go by the boards.

“The only thing I’m going to say is we’ll be OK,” Butler said. “Let’s get back to doing what we’ve always done to get us to this point. Continually have belief in one another, knowing that we are going to win, and we will. We’ve just got to play harder.

“There’s not too much to say with this group because we already know. So we’ve just got to go out there and execute.”

Caleb Martin made his first six shots from the floor on Tuesday and scored 14 of his 16 points in the first half.

“It’s definitely disappointing,” Martin said of the loss. “That would have been a perfect world, perfect situation. But as we know and everybody else knows, we don’t typically get things the easy way over here. So like I said, this is right up our alley. This is the way it goes for us and guys like us. Again, I think it’s only going to prepare us for the long run. This could be good for us.”

–Field Level Media

MIAMI – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Jayson Tatum collected 33 points and 11 rebounds as the visiting Celtics staved off elimination with a 116-99 victory over the Miami Heat in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Tatum made 14 of 22 shots from the floor — including 4 of 8 from 3-point range. He also had seven assists for the second-seeded Celtics, who trail 3-1 in the best-of-seven series heading into Thursday’s Game 5 in Boston.

Celtics swingman Jaylen Brown scored 17 points and guard Derrick White added 16 to help the Celtics prevent Miami from becoming the second eighth-seeded team to advance to the NBA Finals. The 1998-99 New York Knicks accomplished the feat during a lockout-shortened season.

Grant Williams scored 14 points off the bench and Al Horford added 12 points and seven rebounds for the Celtics, who turned the tide by outscoring the Heat 38-23 in the third quarter. Williams had jawed with Heat guard Jimmy Butler in Game 3.

Boston shot 51.2 percent from the floor (43 of 84) for the game and 40.9 percent from 3-point range (18 of 44).

Miami’s Butler overcame a slow start to record 29 points and nine rebounds. Gabe Vincent scored 17 points and Caleb Martin added 16 off the bench for the Heat, who fell to 6-1 at home in the playoffs.

Down by 11 points late in the third quarter, Miami trimmed the deficit to five before Boston countered by scoring 12 straight points to secure a 100-83 lead with 7:25 to play in the fourth. Tatum and Marcus Smart each had five points during that surge.

The Heat moved within 13 with 4:27 to play before Brown converted a three-point play to halt the momentum. The Celtics were not seriously threatened the rest of the way.

BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Miami’s Jimmy Butler scored 27 points, including the tiebreaking basket with 2:33 remaining, and the Heat took control of the Eastern Conference finals with a 111-105 victory over the host Boston Celtics in Game 2 on Friday night.

Miami won in Boston for the second straight game to grab a 2-0 edge in the best-of-seven series. Games 3 and 4 will be played in Miami on today and Tuesday, respectively.

Caleb Martin established a career playoff high with 25 points on 11-of-16 shooting off the bench for the eighth-seeded Heat. Miami’s Bam Adebayo contributed 22 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists and reserve Duncan Robinson chipped in 15 points.

Jayson Tatum had 34 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists for second-seeded Boston but didn’t convert a field goal in the fourth quarter for the second straight game. All five of Tatum’s final-quarter points came on free throws in the final minute.

Jaylen Brown scored 16 points but shot just 7 of 23 from the field for the Celtics. Malcolm Brogdon and Robert Williams III had 13 points apiece.

BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Miami’s “Playoff” Jimmy Butler carried the Heat during the first two rounds of the NBA Playoffs. The opening game of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals was no different.

 

Butler played a solid all-around game, stacking-up 35 points, seven assists, six steals and five rebounds while leading the Heat to a 123-116 upset victory over the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference series that will determine the participant of the 2023 NBA Finals.

Butler raised his 2023 postseason average to 31.5 with his fifth 30-point effort in 11 games. He stopped short of saying he is playing better than ever but asserted the Miami coaching staff has set him up for success.

“I’m playing at an incredible level because they are allowing me to do so and not putting a limit on my game,” Butler said. “They are trusting me with the ball and on the defensive end, and I think that’s what any basketball player wants. What anyone wants in life is to be wanted, to be appreciated and just let you go out there and rock.”

Butler and the Heat were doing most of the rocking — particularly during a 46-point third quarter — while delivering the opening salvo in the best-of-seven series.

Bam Adebayo recorded 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists as the Heat recovered from a 13-point, second-quarter deficit. Kyle Lowry, Caleb Martin, Max Strus and Gabe Vincent all scored 15 points for Miami.

Jayson Tatum had 30 points and seven rebounds and Jaylen Brown added 22 points, nine rebounds and five assists for Boston. Malcolm Brogdon scored 19 points, Robert Williams III had 14 points and seven rebounds and Marcus Smart registered 13 points and 11 assists for the Celtics.

Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Friday night in Boston.

Letting a double-digit lead get away at home was disappointing to Tatum.

“We’re going to watch film and talk about it,” Tatum said. “We’ll discuss the things we did well and the things we can do better and come out and execute better on Friday.”

The Heat led 114-105 after Butler’s basket with 5:33 remaining before the Celtics scored the next five points. Martin halted a Miami scoring drought of 3:23 by burying a 3-pointer to make it 117-110 with 2:10 to go.

Butler then made a 3-pointer that went in and out, bounced high and back in to make it a 10-point game with 1:03 left, and the Heat closed it out.

“He’s not playing for numbers,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said of Butler. “He’s trying to help the offense get the best possible high-percentage shot.”

Miami shot 54.1 percent from the field, including 16 of 31 (51.6 percent) from 3-point range.

Boston made 51.9 percent of its shots and was 10 of 29 (34.5 percent) from behind the arc. Derrick White added 11 points for the Celtics.

Miami trailed 66-57 at halftime before outscoring Boston 46-25 in the third quarter to take a 12-point advantage. The Celtics led 71-59 after Smart’s 3-pointer 65 seconds into the period before the Heat’s explosion began.

Miami used a 13-1 burst to tie the score. The Heat later went on a 10-2 push to move ahead 86-80 on a 3-pointer by Strus with 4:25 left in the period. Miami took a 103-91 lead into the final stanza.

“We got away from who we are in the third quarter,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “I thought the first half was good. I thought we just let go of the rope in the third quarter. Lost our sense of urgency. We played harder than them in the first half, and they played harder than us in the third quarter.”

Tatum scored 18 first-half points. The score was tied at 47 before the Celtics went on a 15-2 run to open up a 13-point lead with 2:08 left in the second quarter.

Butler scored 15 points and Lowry had 13 in the first half for the Heat.

–Field Level Media