Nba playoffs: Boston dominates Miami led by Tatum, now it’s 2-2

The impossible does not exist in the Eastern Conference Finals, where what appears to be true in one match becomes completely wrong in the next. Where those who lose badly have so far always had the strength to react. It is Boston’s turn to dominate this time, just 48 hours after losing Game-3: Miami is annihilated 102-82 and the series returns to Florida at 2-2, with the certainty that in Game-5 it will still be different. Udoka’s team dominated with the defense, keeping Miami without baskets from the field for the first 9 ‘, under 30% for the whole game and conceding just 18 points to the Heat owners, the minimum ever. A triumph signed by Jayson Tatum, who with 31 points cancels the disaster of race-3, a walk that arrived despite the knockout of Marcus Smart, stopped by the twisted right ankle in the third game: Derrick White, his replacement who so far had only put 3 points in the series, it was crucial.

DOMAIN

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“We had to redeem ourselves, we knew we had to win this match. And we were ready, all ready to play, ”says Jayson Tatum. He finished with 31 points, after playing his worst game in these playoffs in Game-3, returning to dominate and pushing a team that controlled the game in attack even if it did not reach 40% from the field. “We have a proud team, with one of the best defending in the NBA: we wanted to prove it – explains coach Udoka -. Now we have to replicate everything we have done in Game-5, we must understand that we need to always have the right mentality, the one we have had in this match ”. Boston won as a team: with the commitment of Al Horford (13 rebounds and 4 blocks), the physicality of Robert Williams (12 points and 9 rebounds, precautionary rest from the middle of the third quarter), the order that Derrick White gave (13 points and 5 assists), Payton Pritchard’s enthusiasm from the bench (14 points). And it made a difference with the defense, the one that attacked Miami from the start and sent it out of control. As coach Udoka recalls, the real mission for Boston now is figuring out how to do it again in Game-5.

DISASTER

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Miami was too bad to be true. “We played really badly – admits coach Spoelstra, making sure to give the right credit in Boston -. In attack we were unable to do what we wanted, we dug our own pit and we never managed to get out of it, making so many mistakes. This is a team defeat ”. Among the owners no one is saved from the disaster, not even Jimmy Butler (6 points with 3/14 shooting) whose charisma was also lacking, not even Bam Adebayo (9 points and 6 rebounds) who had dominated game-3. Victor Oladipo (20 points) and Duncan Robinson’s last quarter (14) brought the only glimmer of positivity off the bench. But the disaster was a team one, with 60-39 rebounded and 52 points in the first three quarters more annoying alarms. “We have the mental strength and team strength to understand who we are and what we have – says coach Spoelstra -. It’s just a very competitive series: let’s take the shot, together, and get ready for game-5 ”.

THE MATCH

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Boston starts with the aggressiveness of someone who has something to prove: he forces Miami to miss the first 14 attempts, while Tatum in attack digs a furrow that becomes wider and wider. The 29-11 Celtics at the start of the second quarter expands up to 50-23 which Robert Williams III signs with 3’55 “from the interval, where the hosts are ahead 57-33. Instead of Miami’s reaction, the second half opens with the jolt that brings Boston over 30 points ahead and definitively closes the match. The next appointment is for Wednesday in Miami for race-5: will everything still be different?

Boston: Tatum 31 (7/9 from two, 1/7 from three, 14/16 free throws), Pritchard 14, White 13. Rebounds: Horford 13. Assists: White 6.

You love me: Oladipo 23 (3/9, 4/7, 5/8 tl), Robinson 14, Martin 12. Rebounds: Butler 7. Assist: Vincent 7.