There’s a real chance that the Heat will win the Eastern Conference finals by sweeping the Celtics.
The Miami Heat need one more victory to get to the NBA Finals.
After taking two games at Boston’s TD Garden by steal, the Heat continued their dominance against the Celtics on Sunday night in South Florida. With their 128-102 victory against the Celtics, the Heat took a 3-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference finals and are now on the verge of advancing to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2020.
“As you can tell, the rim was as big as the ocean for everybody,” Heat star Bam Adebayo said on TNT.
The Heat jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. At one point, they led by as many as 21 points in the second quarter. Although the Celtics were able to mount a second-half comeback and trim the lead to 15, it was still the biggest of the playoffs for Boston. Their 46 points in the first half were also their lowest in the playoffs. The Celtics seemed uninterested in the game.
Heat’s Third Quarter Explosion Propels them to 26-Point Victory, Takes Commanding 3-0 Series Lead
The second half was no better than the first. The Heat exploded for a 28-10 lead to start the third quarter. Instantly, they had a 33-point advantage, matching their season high. The Celtics had a disastrous first quarter, scoring only 17 points while the Heat dominated.
At that point, it was already very much done. Both teams decided to rest their starters in the second half, but the Heat were able to hang on for a 26-point victory. This puts them up 3-0 in the series.
“I just didn’t have them ready to play,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “I should’ve. Whatever it was … I have to get them in a better place ready to play. That’s on me.”
The Celtics were led by Jayson Tatum’s 14 points in the defeat. He also grabbed 10 boards, but made just 6-of-18 shots. Jaylen Brown scored 12 points in the end. The only Celtics to score in double figures were those two. They have combined to shoot only 7 of 40 from 3-point range in this series against Miami, making just 1 of those shots (on Sunday night). Boston made only 6% of their 3-point attempts as a club.
Then, Mazzulla revealed something surprising. He has become isolated from the Celtics team.
Gabe Vincent’s Dominant Performance Leads Heat to Victory in Playoffs as they Face Crucial Game 4 Against Celtics
Gabe Vincent scored 29 points to lead the Heat to victory. He made six of his nine 3-point attempts. Jimmy Butler scored 16 points and grabbed eight boards while dishing out six assists and sharing the ball with fellow starter Duncan Robinson for a total of 40 points from the bench. The Heat had a 3-point percentage of over 54% and a field goal percentage of over 57%. In addition, Miami’s 25-point victory made them the first No. 8 seed to ever win a playoff game by that many points.
Tuesday night in Miami will host Game 4 of the series. The Heat might be staring at a sweep and another trip to the Finals if the Celtics repeat their performance from Sunday night. No team in NBA history has ever come back from a 3-0 hole, and that holds true even if they win on Tuesday.
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