NBA Scores: Celtics beat Miami again, move one step closer to NBA history

Celtics fend off Warmth at house, 110-97, drive Recreation 6 in Miami

Thursday night time marked the fourth time the Boston Celtics have confronted and elimination state of affairs this postseason. On condition that they’re nonetheless alive right this moment, I’ll offer you one guess as to what their file is in these video games.

On Wednesday night time, the Celtics took one small step nearer to historical past, beating the Warmth in dominant trend on their house flooring to ship the collection again to Miami for Recreation 6. The Warmth, given their commanding begin to the collection, nonetheless personal a 3-2 benefit, and now have an opportunity to shut out the collection at house. Groups that begin a collection with a 3-0 benefit are 150-0, in any case. A detailed-out alternative at house feels virtually storybook.

Then once more, so did the sweep that seemed and felt inevitable after Recreation 3’s debacle of a efficiency from the Celtics, one which put them in a 3-0 gap. However instantly, Boston has received two video games in a row to make this a collection, and has seemed dominant doing it. They received by 17 in Recreation 4 on Miami’s house flooring, after which promptly took the Warmth to job with a deceptive 13-point win in Boston. (It ought to have been a much bigger blowout, however rubbish time known as rubbish time for a cause.)

Derrick White had 24 factors, together with six 3-pointers, to paved the way for the Celtics. Marcus Good (23 factors and 5 steals), Jayson Tatum (21 factors, eight rebounds, and 11 assists), and Jaylen Brown (21 of his personal) all completed in double-figures to steer the cost. Boston by no means trailed, compelled 16 Miami turnovers, and knocked down 41 p.c of their threes. That’s actually all you have to know.

Photograph by Maddie Meyer/Getty Photos

Duncan Robinson (!!!) led the Warmth with 18 factors, whereas Bam Adebayo added 16 factors and eight rebounds. Jimmy Butler had a meager 14 factors, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists, although he sat for a lot of the fourth. Haywood Highsmith — getting the 36 minutes that Gabe Vincent left vacant as he sat out with an ankle sprain — scored 15 factors off the bench in his first actual motion this postseason.

Recreation 6 is on Saturday in Miami, the place the Warmth will look to change into the second eight seed to make the NBA Finals. Boston, in the meantime, will look to drive a Recreation 7, one that can give them the uncommon alternative to make historical past. If any group goes to do it, it would as nicely be this infuriating group.

As Kevin Millar stated about his Boston Crimson Sox group method again in 2004, “Don’t depend us out.” As Curt Schilling famously famous about the identical group, “Why not us?”