Miami, May 20 – (Adnkronos) – The Boston Celtics find Marcus Smart and Al Horford in the quintet and dominate against the Miami Heat in game-2 of the Eastern Conference NBA final, winning 127-102 and drawing the series 1-1. After four and a half minutes of the game the Celtics were 10 points down at 18-8 for the hosts but from then on Boston completely changed gear and overturned all of Miami with a 60-21 run in the next 18 minutes. , going to the interval ahead on 70-45 and never looking back, settling the score in the series with the authority of the big teams.
What made the difference was the three-point shot: the Celtics shot 9/11 from long range in a sensational first quarter, led by 11 points from Jaylen Brown who then finished with 24. The guests then made another 11. during the match closing with 20/40, exactly double the Heat who stopped at 10 triples scored on 34 attempts. To this they added excellent ball management (only 9 turnovers compared to 8 steals) and distributed 28 assists against 21 of the opponents, with a decisive Marcus Smart.
The Celtics guard returned after missing the first match of the series with a foot injury, and the extra rest after struggling against Milwaukee was a lifesaver. The best defender of the year was close to the triple double with 24 points, 9 rebounds and 12 assists (new career high in the playoffs) shooting 5/12 from long distance.
Leading the Celtics in attack is however a Jayson Tatum who needs 13 shots (8 to hit) to score 27 points in just over 31 minutes, also adding 5 rebounds and 5 assists in his match with a perfect 7/7 to free throws. . The best news for coach Ime Udoka is that the mega 17-0 run that decided the game came with Tatum sitting on the bench due to fouls problems: the impact of Grant Williams (19 points off the bench) and Payton Pritchard ( 10), while Al Horford did not miss even one of the 4 attempts for 10 final points.
The last to surrender at the Heat home was as always Jimmy Butler, who scored 16 of his 29 finals to get his team back into the game. The disadvantage, however, returned to a maximum of -17, before another 12-2 run by the guests finally closed the accounts, returning to +25 before the last quarter, with the hosts not even returning the owners to the field. in the last 12 minutes. Butler was left too alone by his teammates, with only Gabe Vincent and Victor Oladipo able to reach 14 points (the second while shooting 2/8 from the field) and Tyler Herro who needed 11 shots to score 11 points , closing with -33 plus-minus in less than 24 minutes.
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