At the beginning of the season, few, if not anyone, placed the Miami Heat among the candidates for the NBA ring, but as happened in 2020, when they reached the final without making a sound, the Florida team is showing itself every more solid in the playoffs and for the moment they already dominate the Eastern Conference final against the Boston Celtics (107-118)
With a spectacular 39-14 run in the third quarter, Erik Spoelstra’s team woke up in time this Tuesday to beat the club team in the first game of the series. Jimmy Butler, the team’s star, lived up to expectations once again with 41 points (12 of 19 shooting, 17 of 18 free throws), 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocks.
“I know what I’m capable of. I’m not doing this to score 40 points: I play the way I play to win. If I scored 40 points and we lost, I’d be really upset,” Butler explained after the game. “I’m the first to say: ‘I take the blame’. I have to lead better and I have to play better, especially in those moments. And now I just want to respond in the next game”, lamented, instead, Jayson Tatum, the best of the Celtics.
Tatum was the top scorer (29 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals) for the Celtics who suffered from the wear and tear of their semi-final against the Milwaukee Bucks. The Massachusetts team dominated the scoreboard at halftime at the FTX Arena (62-54), but the hoop was too small for them after the restart with only four points in seven minutes to 22 of their rival.
The two teams showed up to the first match with significant casualties. The Celtics were without Al Horford (coronavirus protocol) and Marcus Smart (sprained right foot), while Kyle Lowry is still out with the Heat (hamstring discomfort).
With nothing to salvage from that terrible third quarter, except for an impressive block from Theis to Dedmon, Boston had the rest at the beginning of the fourth quarter with a 3-10 that gave them some hope (86-96 with 8:21 to go). . However, Butler returned to the track after a few minutes of rest and closed out the victory for Miami without major problems.
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