The Boston Celtics, first seed in the NBA Eastern Conference, defeated the Miami Heat 102-88 on Monday to take a 3-1 lead in this first-round playoff series, in a game followed from the stands by Lionel Messi.
The Celtics will have their first chance to eliminate the defending runners-up next Wednesday in front of their TD Garden crowd.
The negative note of the victory was the withdrawal near halftime of the Latvian Kristaps Porzingis due to a calf injury that will require additional tests.
Point guard Derrick White was the star of the Celtics with 38 points, a career-high scoring record, and 8 triples while Jayson Tatum finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds and several spectacular actions such as a fierce dunk in the fourth quarter that left the audience amazed from the Kaseya Center.
Lionel Messi followed the game from a box on the field, accompanied by one of his sons and his Inter Miami teammates and friends Luis Suárez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba.
For the Heat, Bam Adebayo had 25 points and 17 rebounds and Mexican-American rookie Jaime Jáquez Jr. had nine points in just 22 minutes on the court.
Boston dealt a second resounding defeat in a row to the Heat, who were too affected by the losses throughout the tie of their leader Jimmy Butler and point guard Terry Rozier, two of their best offensive weapons.
#Celtics #derrota #Miami #Heat
– 2024-05-08 04:41:27
