The Miami Heat defeated the Boston Celtics 128-102 on Sunday night to achieve a 3-0 series lead.
Miami only needs one more win to reach the NBA Finals, and it’s best to finish it at home in game four.
While the Celtics have collapsed, the Heat have also been the most consistent team throughout this year’s playoffs.
Here’s a quick recap of Miami’s third straight win over Boston.
Who Wants it More?
Playoff matchups usually come down to effort and grit, especially when the teams are pretty evenly matched. There’s definitely an argument that the Celtics have more talent, but they rely on their stars too much at times.
In game three, Jayson Tatum was Boston’s leading scorer with 14 points. Granted, the starters sat for a significant amount of time because the game was soon out of reach. Regardless, this is still a team who reached the NBA Finals last year with a similar roster.
The Heat’s defense, whether it be zone or man, has worked almost to perfection. Miami limited the Celtics to 46 points in the first half, and that led the Heat to remain undefeated at home during the postseason.
Concluding Thoughts
It’s likely that this series between the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics will end on Tuesday night. However, that doesn’t give any reason for either team to let up, and Erik Spoelstra will ensure his team is ready to play come game four.
Miami’s systematic approach has helped them in the last three series; it will be interesting to see if that methodology will be similar for the NBA Finals. The Denver Nuggets are up 3-0 as well against the Lakers, so a Denver-Miami matchup is bound to happen.
All in all, it’s great to see how the Heat play collectively as a unit and how their role players took their game to another level. The road will only get tougher from here, but expect no loss of heart from Miami.
The Miami Heat DOMINATE in Game 3's.
— Isaac Edelman (@IsaacEdelman) May 22, 2023
Game 3 vs. Milwaukee: Heat win 121-99
Game 3 vs. New York: Heat win 105-86
Game 3 vs. Boston: Heat win 128-102