In the Eastern Conference final, thanks to their victory in Game 4 (99-116), the Boston Celtics avoid being swept away by the Miami Heat and remain alive for the moment in this series.
In this series, the Celtics have not yet said their last word. Because, if in the West, the Denver Nuggets have swept the Los Angeles Lakers in recent days to qualify for the NBA Finals, Boston is still alive in the East thanks to its victory in Miami (99-116), on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday.
Back to the wall and forced to win before Game 4 of this conference final, Joe Mazzulla’s players have assured the Kaseya Center and remain in contention in this series for the moment. However, in Florida, it was the Heat who started this meeting the most in front of their audience and led at the break by six points (56-50), after having achieved a better first quarter (29-23). But, once again well shaken by Erik Spoelstra’s troops, the teammates of a Jayson Tatum (33 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists) of the big nights have found the keys to reverse the trend and take the lead on the scoreboard. Indeed, on returning from the locker room, a scathing 18-0 in favor of the Celtics completely changed the situation (from 61-52 to 61-70!).
Boston must now continue at TD Garden
Carried by its leader, who was notably well supported by Jaylen Brown (17 points), Derrick White (16 points) and Grant Williams (14 points and 6 rebounds), Boston took things in hand during the third quarter. , won 38-23. In the continuity of this very good start to the second period, visitors have not weakened in the last twelve minutes (28-20) and therefore offer themselves a
successes that leave them alive in this Eastern Conference Finals. Opposite, if Jimmy Butler (29 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists), as well as Gabe Vincent (17 points) and Caleb Martin (16 points), showed great things on the floor, it was insufficient to obtain a fourth success synonymous with qualification. The series will therefore start again in Massachusetts, where Game 5 will take place at TD Garden in two days. A new meeting that Boston will have to win to continue to believe in it a little longer. While the mission seems impossible for the time being, the Celtics showed in the previous round against Philadelphia what they were capable of in this kind of situation.
BASKETBALL – NBA / PLAY-OFFS
Wednesday, May 17, 2023
Miami Heat- Boston Celtics : 99-116
> Miami leads 3-1 in the series
