Much was expected from the reissue of the last Eastern Conference finals. The Celtics visited the Heat court, eager for victories to fight for direct qualification to the playoffs, and who also announced a few hours before the game that they would not have Jimmy Butler, since he had to be absent urgently due to a family problem.
In such a context it was obvious that Boston started with more advantage than expected, but that did not mean that the Florida team gave up. Despite being behind on the scoreboard for many minutes, Miami never left the game and gritted its teeth to get into the last two minutes of the game just two points behind its rival. It was all there, although they had the ball to tie or take the lead, they were not successful in attack and the Greens ended up deciding from the free throw line.
«Today was fun, since we have a lot of history with this team. The last time we came here we beat them, so we knew it would be a close game. We came to play and the truth is that we enjoy being part of games like this. “Everyone was very competitive,” says Jayson Tatum.
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The Celtics star was his team’s top scorer with 26 points, but he was far from alone, as Kristaps Porzigis contributed 25, Jaylen Brown scored 20 and Jrue Holiday scored another 15. Boston’s great weapon in Miami it was the consistency in his game.
The truth is that Boston seems to have marked in red all the games on the calendar in which they face the Heat. Last year they were eliminated in the playoffs by Erik Spoelstra’s team and this season they have not been given the option to win the three games between them; Of course, this does not alleviate the pain from the defeat they suffered in Game 7 of the 2023 Eastern finals.
Injuries in Miami
Beyond successes or errors during the clash, the reality is that bad luck took its toll on the Heat. Not having Jimmy Butler was compounded by the injury of Josh Richardson in the second quarter due to a right shoulder problem, and that of Terry Rozier in the third due to a bad fall after a penetration. Now we have to wait for the MRIs that will be done on both players.
Without them, the top scorer was Tyler Herro with 24 points, while Bam Adebayo had a double-double of 22 points and 13 rebounds. From the bench, Duncan Robinson contributed another 15 points.
(Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
2024-02-12 07:00:00
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