Remember Miami’s lack of defensive efficiency in game two? Well, the script certainly flipped in game three.
The Heat forced an astounding 24 turnovers and scored 33 points off of them in the 109-103 victory over the Boston Celtics. The Heat led the game 62-47 at halftime and were challenged late into the game as the Celtics pulled to within ten points with under a minute to go, but head coach Erik Spoelstra and his squad pulled out the win and any doubts people had about the team after game two were erased.
Recap
For the Celtics, the fourth quarter spurt was not enough to undo the first half inefficiencies. Jayson Tatum in particular struggled mightily all night. He shot 3-of-14 from the field and only managed to put up 10 points. Even worse, Tatum had six turnovers. His lack of production seemed to hurt the Celtics chances throughout the night. In the fourth quarter, Tatum also appeared to have pain in his shoulder after taking a nasty fall. This is something to keep an eye on that could flip the script of the series, especially with Boston now down 2-1.
Boston’s Rough Night
Tatum was not the only Celtic to have a scary injury. Within the first few minutes of the second half, Marcus Smart went up for a rebound and fell down rolling his ankle. He was taken to the locker room and was seen returning to the court a few minutes later to the delight of Celtics nation. Upon his return, he nailed a three to bring the game to within ten points and was a big highlight of the night. He finished with 16 points, seven assists, and four rebounds.
One bright spot for Boston was Tatum’s usual partner in crime, Jaylen Brown. Despite racking up the most turnovers on the team with seven, he had an incredible night finishing with 40 points and nine rebounds. Brown also made many big time plays to help spark the comeback that Boston needed. Brown had help from performances by Al Horford, who finished with 20 points, 14 rebounds (game leader), and three blocks.
The Heat Defense Returns
As for the Miami Heat, Jimmy Butler was rather quiet with just eight points on 3-of-8 shooting. However, that is because Butler played only 20 minutes after dealing with knee inflammation at halftime. The scoring came from big man Bam Adebayo, who had a playoff-high 31 points. He also had 10 rebounds, six assists, and four steals to round out his fantastic game. Kyle Lowry also saw action for the first time since the Eastern Conference semi-finals. Lowry had 11 points and six assists and was active on the defensive end with four steals. Not only did Adebayo and Lowry bring the defense to life, but Victor Oladipo did as well, recording four steals.
Spoelstra on Adebayo’s outing, “He did his version of what Jimmy [Butler] does in terms of do what’s necessary for the game. He was extremely assertive…it wasn’t just the scoring…he did so many things in terms of getting us organized, facilitating,…, running offense in the post through him and then defending like he always does one through five against a team that presents a lot of challenges.”
Max Strus played well again following a quiet game two. He finished with 16 points on 50 percent shooting. P.J. Tucker scored 17 points and secured seven rebounds, too. Tucker also got in on the defensive show the Heat were putting on with three steals.
Despite the Celtics beating the Heat in nearly every statistical category, the turnover differential was too much for them to overcome and the comeback could not quite be complete. The Heat did fantastic defensively which is the root of this squad and it is something they did not have in game two. Defense wins championships and this was a championship like performance.