The Boston Celtics led from start to finish on Thursday night, as four players scored more than 20 points a piece as they cruised to a 110-97 victory over the Miami Heat in game five of the Eastern Conference Finals at TD Garden. After a 3-0 Miami lead, the series is now 3-2 and headed back to South Beach on Saturday.
Boston set the tempo in the first quarter with a 14-0 run to stretch an early 6-5 lead to 20-5. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum each had a three-pointer during the run and Marcus Smart had two from long distance, and Smart scored eight of the first 15 Celtics points on the night. The hosts would lead by as many as 20 in the second, and Brown nailed two more three-pointers finding his shooting touch after struggling from the arc in the series entering the game (3-25). Boston would lead 61-44 at halftime led by 15 points from Brown and 51% shooting. The C’s collectively had 11 three-pointers over the opening 24 minutes.
The second half was not much different. Derrick White also had a big night, shooting the ball very well scoring 24 points. A pair of Tatum free throws in the fourth quarter extended to the biggest lead of the game at 96-72. Boston played terrific defense, and didn’t allow any second chance points for Miami until there was five minutes left in the game (17-7 overall).
White led the way in the win with his game-high in points shooting 8-11 (6-8 three-pointers). Smart ended up with 23 points (4-6 three-pointers), and had five steals. Tatum and Brown would score 21 points each. Tatum also had eight rebounds, 11 assists, and two steals. Boston hit a total of 16 three-pointers (16-39, 41%). Duncan Robinson had 18 points and nine assists to lead Miami. Haywood Highsmith filling in for an injured Gabe Vincent had 15 points. Bam Adebayo had 16 points and Jimmy Butler along with Caleb Martin had 14 points a piece to round out the double digit scorers for the Heat. Adebayo chipped in eight rebounds and Butler also contributed five rebounds and five assists. Game six is Saturday at 8:30 p.m. back at the Kaseya Center in Miami. The Celtics have won four of the last five postseason games played there that dates back to last years playoffs.
Story by Chris Lessner/Highlight video is courtesy of the NBA website
