The Miami Heat were in Boston for Game 4 after an electrifying win in Game 3 that had the media sure the series was over. Miami smothered Boston in game three in hopes that they wouldn’t be able to bounce back. The narrative quickly changed Monday night in a very odd and unique game four.
Rocky Start
The first quarter in this game held one of the weirdest sequences to come to basketball in a while. For starters, the Celtics came out of the gate with a vengeance. They were looking for revenge for their absolute underwhelming performance in game three. Jayson Tatum quickly lit up the scoreboard and held no mercy for his opposition. Starting point guard Derrick White was also maneuvering his way through the Heat’s defense and making difficult shots look easy. Contrastingly, Miami went ice cold for practically the entire first quarter. The Heat missed 15 out of their first 16 shots in the first quarter and were held to one point for over half the quarter. Victor Oladipo pulled the Heat out of their slum with some electric buckets that kept the Heat within striking distance.
Couldn’t Catch Up
Once the first-quarter slump had concluded, the Heat tried to do what they could to get back into the game but it was simply not their night. All starters were held to single digits in this game, creating major turbulence to get anything started in this matchup. Both Max Strus and P.J. Tucker were held to zero points which were part of the catalyst for Miami that sputtered out in this game.
No Brakes
Boston was clicking on all cylinders Monday night. They came out and stumped Miami. Jayson Tatum erupted for a game-high 31 points in front of the Boston crowd. Leading by roughly 20 points the entire game, Boston held their foot on the gas for every single second of this matchup leading to a victory.
Do Or Die
The Heat take their talent back to South Beach and face Boston in a critical Game 5 matchup Wednesday night.