MIAMI, FL- Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart, and Jaylen Brown combined for 75 points to tie the series 1-1 in a 127-102 win against the Miami Heat.
P.J. Tucker opened the game for Miami with a corner 3-pointer and a layup. Jaylen Brown made a 3-pointer to score the first points for Boston.
Robert Williams ties the game with an alley oop dunk. However, Miami went on a 10-3 run to take a 15-8 lead over Boston with 8:04 left in the first quarter. Boston called a timeout.
After the timeout, Max Strus made a 3-pointer to give the Heat a 10-point lead. The Celtics responded with a 7-0 run to cut their deficit to three points.
Tyler Herro was fouled on a successful pull up jumper and made his free-throw. However, Boston scored eight-straight points and had a 23-21 lead with 2:56 left in the first.
Boston then made four-straight 3-pointers to give Boston a 35-24 lead entering the second quarter.
Boston scored 12 points in the first four minutes of the second quarter and held Miami to just four points during that stretch. That gave Boston a 47-28 lead.
Boston outscored Miami 35-21 in the second quarter and entered halftime with a 70-45 lead.
Jimmy Butler scored 16 points for Miami in the third quarter but the Heat was down 96-71 entering the fourth quarter.
Boston scored 31 points in the fourth quarter and easily came out of game 2 with the win.
Boston Hot From Three
Holy smokes, the Boston Celtics were hot from deep this game.
The average 3-pointers made this season is 12.7. The Celtics nearly eclipsed that with 12 3-pointers in the first half alone.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brownled the Celtics in threes made in the first half with three 3-pointers. Boston continued to drain threes and finished the game shooting 20-of-40 (50.0%) from deep.
Boston was really shooting in the gym this game.
Tatum was the leading scorer for the Celtics with 27 points. Marcus Smart nearly had a triple-double with 24 points, 12 rebounds, and nine assists.
Jaylen Brown scored 24 points and eight rebounds.
“We were under control,” Smart said. “Things got a little spicy for us. We settled ourselves down. Me and Al (Horford) have been doing this for a while, we’ve been doing this the longest on this team, and we know what it takes.”
Smart continued
“It’s going to take everything. We got to help Jaylen and Jayson,” he said.
Miami lost in uncharacteristically fashion. Jimmy Butler tried to rally the Heat back into the game in the third quarter but Boston was able to pull away. Butler finished the game with 29 points.
This was Miami’s first home loss of the playoffs.
Up Next
The Boston Celtics will host game 3 against the Miami Heat on May 21, 8:30 pm est.
