05/22/2022 at 07:19
CEST
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Bam Adebayowith a double-double of 31 points and ten rebounds, led this Saturday to the Miami Heat in the 109-103 win over the Boston Celtics at the TD Garden that gave Erik Spoelstra’s team a 2-1 lead in the NBA Eastern Conference finals.
After being completely outplayed in the second game, the Celtics ended with a 127-102 victorythe Heat vindicated themselves with a victory of character in the Gardendespite losing leader Jimmy Butler with a right knee problem that forced him to retire after the break.
Adebayo, who had not been decisive in the first two games of the series, he had 31 points, ten rebounds and six assists to pitch to the Heat against a Celtics who, after losing by 26 points in the second quarter, had managed to get closer to just one point in the last period.
If Butler only scored eight points in 19 minutes on the track, Miami could count on the solid return of PJ Tucker (17 points and seven rebounds), who was in doubt for this appointment due to discomfort, and Kyle Lowry (eleven points, six assists, four steals), who had not played since May 9 against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Miami managed to tame some Celtics who at times savored the idea of an epic comeback to the rhythm of Jaylen Brownauthor of 40 points, his best record in the ‘playoffs’, with nine rebounds, and of the Dominican Al Horfordwho contributed a double-double of 20 points and fourteen rebounds.
Tatum was contained by the Heat’s aggressive defense and did not exceed ten pointssix rebounds and four assists.
Adebayo pitches to the Heat
Hurt by the resounding defeat suffered two days ago at home, the Heat came out to bite and, pushed by 16 points from a fantastic Bam Adebayo, they had a 26-point lead as soon as the second period started at 46-20.
Adebayo, who had barely accumulated 16 points in the first two games of the series, directed a Heat that dominated the Celtics on both sides of the track, with offensive percentages that exceeded 60% and a great aggressiveness to stop the offensive power of Udoka’s men.
But Boston once proved to be a solid team, with courage and faith in their game. He showed it with a tremendous reaction started to the rhythm of Al Horford, always ready to fight in the paint (8 rebounds in the first half) and por a Tatum who closed a 10-0 run with a triple at the buzzer who cut the deficit to fifteen points to go to the locker room at halftime (62-47).
Smart and Brown come back
The Heat ended the period suffering from Boston’s pace and momentum and, returning after the break, they couldn’t count on Jimmy Butler, who dragged an inflammation in the right knee.
His absence, due to his technical weight and his leadership capacity, left the Heat touched, although the biggest scare was for the Celticswhen Marcus Smart ended up lying on the ground screaming in pain after a very bad ankle sprain.
The best defenseman of the year returned to the locker room helped by two members of the Celtics coaching staff, but, when his team seemed finished, unleashed the Garden’s euphoria upon returning to the track.
It was he himself who connected the triple that cut the distance to ten points (72-62) in the third quarter, which forced Spoelstra’s timeout and provoked a long and heartfelt applause from his fans.
The intensity of the match, already very high, skyrocketed in the fourth period. In the battleTatum had to withdraw a few minutes for a pain in the right shoulder, before returning to compete.
Boston pays for the 24 lost balls
Brown, with some extraordinary plays, managed to bring the Celtics closer to a single point at 93-92 after leading a 12-0 run for Ime Udoka’s menbut the naive lost balls of his team ended up taking their toll.
Strus hit a valuable 3-pointer to put Boston away and Adebayo reached 29 personal points to give Miami an eight-point margin at 100-92.
The last lost ball came with 101-94, with a misunderstanding between Williams and Smart that gave Miami 103-94 that sentenced the game and gave Miami a transcendental victory at home
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