The leader set the tone. After dominating the regular season (64 victories in 82 matches), the Celtics began the final stages, where they faced the Heat in the first round, with an uncontested success. After barely three minutes of play, the locals were already leading 14-0 and were never worried again after that. Although significant, the final gap (+20) is not enough to reflect Boston’s total domination of this meeting.
Triple-double pour Tatum
Particularly impressive in defense, the Celtics were up to 34 units ahead at the start of the fourth quarter (96-62) before slowing down for the next meetings. They nevertheless kept their leaders on the field until the end, including Jayson Tatum, author of a triple-double (23 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists), and who gave himself a big scare by falling heavily on the back a minute from the buzzer, a fall a priori without consequences.
The Boston winger was well accompanied this Sunday by Derrick White (20 points), Kristaps Porzingis (18 points) and Jaylen Brown (17 points), in a rotation reduced to eight players.
The Heat, not helped by the absence of Jimmy Butler, injured in the knee, will have to rely on more than a good Bam Adebayo (24 points, 6 rebounds) to hope to overthrow the best team in the league this season. Match 2 scheduled for the night of Wednesday to Thursday.
2024-04-21 19:39:52
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