The Miami Heat defeated the top-seeded Boston Celtics 111-101 in an NBA Eastern Conference playoff game, bringing the series even. Miami, playing without the injured Jimmy Butler, put up a spirited performance to even the best-of-seven series at 1-1 as the teams return to Florida for Game 3 on Saturday, April 27. Tyler Herro led Miami in scoring with 24 points, part of a balanced offensive effort that saw all five Heat starters reach double figures. However, the Heat’s long-range precision was essential to their triumph, as they made 23 three-pointers out of 43 tries, compared to Boston’s 12 of 32. Herro made six three-pointers, while Caleb Martin added five to his total of 21 points.
Bam Adebayo finished with 21 points, Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 14, and Nikola Jovic had 11. Jaylen Brown led Boston with 33 points, while Jayson Tatum had 28 in a losing effort. The win was arguably the more surprising given Miami’s 20-point loss to Boston in game one on Sunday, which Herro claimed spurred the Heat for game two.
We lost poorly in game one, but everyone responded tonight, which is all you can want of a group of guys, Herro stated after the game. Herro claimed that Butler encouraged him to take on a leadership role in the absence of Miami’s injured star. Just before this series, JB texted me to take the team and lead these guys, just make every right play. It’s not all about scoring, in the playoffs you got to make the right play. Our guys showed up tonight especially Caleb Martin, Nikola, and Jaime, Herro added.
We don’t even want to mention last year, this year is a whole new year. We feel like we have a great group of guys. We’re not fully healthy, but we have guys who want to play and want to be out here making a difference, he concluded. Boston star Tatum meanwhile said the Celtics had expected a backlash after their comfortable game one victory.
Meanwhile, No.1 ranked Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the eighth-seeded New Orleans Pelicans 124-92 to take a dominating 2-0 lead in their first-round series. The Thunder took the lead early in the first quarter and remained in perfect control throughout, maintaining a double-digit lead from the second quarter onwards, reaching 34 points late in the fourth. The series now moves on to the third game, which will be played Saturday (April 27) in New Orleans.
