NBA Scores: Celtics beat Miami once more, transfer one step nearer to NBA historical past

Celtics fend off Warmth at house, 110-97, pressure Recreation 6 in Miami

Thursday night time marked the fourth time the Boston Celtics have confronted and elimination situation this postseason. Provided that they’re nonetheless alive at this time, I’ll offer you one guess as to what their document is in these video games.

On Wednesday night time, the Celtics took one small step nearer to historical past, beating the Warmth in dominant vogue on their house ground to ship the collection again to Miami for Recreation 6. The Warmth, given their commanding begin to the collection, nonetheless personal a 3-2 benefit, and now have an opportunity to shut out the collection at house. Groups that begin a collection with a 3-0 benefit are 150-0, in spite of everything. An in depth-out alternative at house feels nearly storybook.

Then once more, so did the sweep that seemed and felt inevitable after Recreation 3’s debacle of a efficiency from the Celtics, one which put them in a 3-0 gap. However all of a sudden, Boston has received two video games in a row to make this a collection, and has seemed dominant doing it. They received by 17 in Recreation 4 on Miami’s house ground, after which promptly took the Warmth to process with a deceptive 13-point win in Boston. (It ought to have been a much bigger blowout, however rubbish time is named rubbish time for a motive.)

Derrick White had 24 factors, together with six 3-pointers, to cleared the path for the Celtics. Marcus Good (23 factors and 5 steals), Jayson Tatum (21 factors, eight rebounds, and 11 assists), and Jaylen Brown (21 of his personal) all completed in double-figures to steer the cost. Boston by no means trailed, pressured 16 Miami turnovers, and knocked down 41 p.c of their threes. That’s actually all you want to know.

Picture by Maddie Meyer/Getty Photographs

Duncan Robinson (!!!) led the Warmth with 18 factors, whereas Bam Adebayo added 16 factors and eight rebounds. Jimmy Butler had a meager 14 factors, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists, although he sat for a lot of the fourth. Haywood Highsmith — getting the 36 minutes that Gabe Vincent left vacant as he sat out with an ankle sprain — scored 15 factors off the bench in his first actual motion this postseason.

Recreation 6 is on Saturday in Miami, the place the Warmth will look to turn out to be the second eight seed to make the NBA Finals. Boston, in the meantime, will look to pressure a Recreation 7, one that may give them the uncommon alternative to make historical past. If any staff goes to do it, it would as nicely be this infuriating group.

As Kevin Millar stated about his Boston Purple Sox staff means again in 2004, “Don’t depend us out.” As Curt Schilling famously famous about the identical staff, “Why not us?”