Successful first move: Celtics survive against Heat (NBA)

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The Boston Celtics avoided a sweep against the Miami Heat by winning 116-99 on Tuesday night.

The task remains complicated for Boston, as no team in NBA history has reversed a 0-3 playoff deficit. For example, the Lakers failed the same attempt Monday night against the Denver Nuggets.

Miami will attempt to recover Thursday for its seventh appearance in the NBA Finals since 2006, but will have to do so in enemy territory at the TD Garden. Team Florida has won the championship on three occasions during this span (2006, 2012, and 2013).

Jason Tatum’s second half revival signaled that the Celtics finished with 33 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists, ahead of Jaylen Brown (17 points), Derrick White (16 points) and Grant Williams (14 points). ).

In the rival clan, Jimmy Butler’s 29 points were not enough while Bam Adebayo was very conservative with only 10 points. Gabe Vincent has made 17 saves, more than Caleb Martin

The Celtics got off to a better start than their last game, playing with more conviction, but were unable to convert that into a clear lead, contenting themselves with a 12-12 tie in injury time.

The Heat regained their full confidence, however, to take the lead late in the first quarter and lead 22-15 when Jimmy Butler stole the ball from Jason Tatum, while Max Stross made an escape and put out a sinker. Cody Zeller and Butler made free throws, and Caleb Martin sank a three-pointer to put the Heat up 29-23 after the first 12 minutes.

The Celtics were more effective in the second quarter, Derrick White continued his fine work on a errant offensive rebound, followed by a 2-point shot from Tatum that won their battle 1v1, then a stellar run that led to a long basket from Grant Williams to turn things around and take the lead 37- 34.

However, Tatum didn’t lead in the quarter, and Jaylen Brown didn’t play either with just 8 and 7 points, respectively, behind White’s 11. Marcus Smart, meanwhile, remained almost nonexistent after being wiped out from the scoring after 15 minutes of playing time, and despite everything, he stayed within reach by only trailing 56-50 at halftime. Caleb Martin was the all-time best with 14 points on the other side.

Tatum began to redeem himself after a disappointing first half by putting two 3-pointers together, inspiring the Celtics to come back. He and Brown were able to force themselves more aggressively on offense as well as defense by forcing a coup d’état. Meanwhile, Smart finally managed a three-point shot on his fifth attempt, a sign of a snowball effect that woke up to eventually lead 70-61. The Celtics achieved their biggest lead in the game so far, by 11 points, before ending the third quarter with a score of 88-79, with a power of 22 points for Tatum.

The rest was entirely up to the visitors, who managed to finish with the Heat scoring 12 unanswered points early in the final quarter.