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

On Wednesday evening, the Celtics took one small step nearer to historical past, beating the Warmth in dominant trend on their house ground to ship the sequence again to Miami for Recreation 6. The Warmth, given their commanding begin to the sequence, nonetheless personal a 3-2 benefit, and now have an opportunity to shut out the sequence at house. Groups that begin a sequence 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 out of the blue, Boston has gained two video games in a row to make this a sequence, and has seemed dominant doing it. They gained by 17 in Recreation 4 on Miami’s house ground, after which promptly took the Warmth to job 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 cause.)

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, compelled 16 Miami turnovers, and knocked down 41 % of their threes. That’s actually all it’s worthwhile to know.

Photograph 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 grow 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 group goes to do it, it would as effectively be this infuriating group.

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