The Boston basketball players won the fourth game of the East final series after defeating Miami 116:99.
It didn’t happen that the second conference final this year ended with a ‘broom’. After the Los Angeles Lakers lost 4-0 to Denver, Boston still managed to defeat the high-flying Miami, which still has a great chance to advance to the NBA Finals.
If disastrous third quarters were always fatal for the Celtics in this year’s playoffs when they lost, the wards Joe Mazzulla this time, right at the start of the second half, they found the recipe for victory.
Otherwise, it didn’t look the best. When it’s Max Strus scored for a 9-point advantage (61:52), it seemed that Miami had all the game in their hands, but they had a shooting eclipse that lasted almost four minutes, during which time the Bostonians with a partial result of 18 :0 turned the course of the match in their favor.
The four players, who were more or less disappointing in the previous matches, played harmoniously and efficiently this time. Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown were an unsolvable puzzle for Miami, which completely let up on defense in the third quarter.
In the last quarter, Boston only controlled the rival, who could not find a way back into the game, the gap only grew. Tatum (89:107) took care of the biggest advantage in the match from half distance three and a half minutes before the end.
The latter was also the first name of the meeting with 33 points (and 11 rebounds), 17 added by Brown, one less by White. On the other hand, he was in the best mood Jimmy Butlerwho stopped at 29 points, Gabe Vincent he added 17 of them, he added 16 of them from the bench Caleb Martin.
“We saved our season,” Tatum said shortly and concisely after the game. His coach Mazzulla was a bit more eloquent: “We must not relax. We must continue to maintain the same level of intensity, the same mindset, the same focus.”
The fifth game of the series is scheduled for Friday night at 2:30 a.m. Slovenian time in Boston.
NBA playoffs
East, final, fourth game:MIAMI (8) – BOSTON (2) 3:1 99:116 (29:23, 27:27, 23:38, 20:28) Butler 29 (9/21 from the field, 1/4 for three, free throws 10/12) and 9 rebounds, Vincent 17 (5/ 10 from the field, 1/4 for three), Martin 16 (2/5 for three), Adebayo 10, Strus 9, Love 6, Zeller and Lowry 5 each, Robinson 2; Tatum 33 (14/22 from the field, 4/9 from three), 11 rebounds and 7 assists, Brown 17 (7/16 from the field), White 16 (3/7 from three), G. Williams 14 (4/6 for three), Horford 12 (3/6 for three), Smart 11 (3/9 for three), R. Williams 7, Pritchard 4, Brogdon 2.
They play for four wins according to the 2-2-1-1-1 system.
Source: Rtvslo
