The Boston Celtics gave an impressive response in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Jayson Tatum and the dominant defense crushed the Heat in a 102-82 victory. Historic disgrace paid tribute to Miami as the series now stood tied at 2-2.
Tatum led his colors with 31 points (8/16 FG, 14/16 FT), 8 rebounds and 5 assists. In addition, Payton Pritchard (14), the strong Derrick White (13, 8 rebounds and 6 assists) and Robert Williams and Jaylen Brown (12 each) scored double digits. Al Horford also had a strong game (5, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks), while Daniel Theis was only able to collect 4 points and 3 boards in the extended garbage time.
Boston made it clear from the first minute who would emerge victorious from this match and dominated the entire 48 minutes. The Celtics pulled away to 32 points, the defense kept Miami’s starter at just 18 points. There was also far too little to see for Jimmy Butler (6, 3/14 FG) or Bam Adebayo (9 and 6 rebounds). The only ray of hope was Victor Oladipo, who became the team’s top scorer with 23 points.
Both teams had to accept staff setbacks a few hours before the start of the match. On the Heat side, Tyler Herro (Bar) was out, but Butler showed up fit. On the one hand, Boston was happy with Robert Williams’ return to start five, but the Celts had to do without DPOY Marcus Smart after his ankle injury in match 3. White moved into the top five.
And what a start from White who had been completely pale in the previous series. He was aggressive from the start and marked Boston’s first 7 points, but the other nine men on the field did not do so well. Brown, who generally did not have a lucky hand offensively (5/20 FG), missed his first 5 throws, Miami starting against the strong Celtics defense with 0/14 from the field.
Celtics dominate game 4: Wind against Miami is never in danger
In addition to White, Tatum now also entered the match, the home team dominated the initial phase with 18: 1. With 3:22 left in the first quarter, Miami finally got their first field goal, but that did not change a disastrous episode – 29:11 Boston.
Oladipo (18 of the 33 heatpoints in the first half) felt like the only reason Miami was no longer behind, even early in the second quarter. But Tatum worked hard very good finishes in the zone, and then created an open three for Grant Williams, who made it +24. Boston’s lead later grew to 27 points and it was 57:33 at the break.
There was no sign of a comeback for the Heat even after the switch. Instead, Horford continued to attack the opponent with several strong defensive games, and Boston increased to +32. The air was relatively fast out of this game, it was almost incomprehensible why, among others, Tatum or Adebayo were still on the field at all. 76:52 after three rounds.
Horford still relied on his strong performance a cherry on top, when he smashed Caleb Martin badly. Nearly nine minutes before the end of the day, the veteran and Tatum ended their day, and Miami finally hoisted the white flag. Match 5 in Miami is scheduled for Thursday night.
The most important statistic
Boston Celtics (2) – Miami Heat (1) 102: 82 (BOXSCORE), Series: 2-2
- It was a historically bad start for the Heat in Game 4, or one that was forced on them by the stifling Celtics defense. The visitors scored one point (1!) In the first eight minutes of the match – high ESPN statistics and info this has never happened in the last 25 years. The 11 points in the first round (3/20 FG, 15 percent) also set a franchise-negative record in the first quarter of the playoffs.
- Boston kept finding a way into the opposite zone, earning tons of penalty throws. The Celts were on the line 38 times (32 goals, 84.2 percent), while Miami only 14 times (8 goals, 57.1 percent). The discrepancy arose because the Heat generated almost no deals at the ring. Instead, Boston closed the ring, the guests were forced to make difficult trades from the floating row, but they did not fall (6/31 FG).
- Excellent defense was the main reason Boston celebrated an unchallenged blowout, even though the Celts themselves hit only 39.7 percent from the field, including a weak 23.5 percent from Downtown (8/34). But Miami was only 33.3 percent from the field and at least 38.9 percent from the three countries (14/36). In connection with the free-throw discrepancy and strong rebounds (60:39), Boston’s victory was never in jeopardy.
- Offensively, Celtics coach Ime Udoka should be extremely happy in one respect: after losing 24 balls in match 3, his players saw the ball much better. The statistics recorded only 3 turnovers in the first half boxing score (11 in total, MIA: 9). So Heat’s transition play never got underway – and at half time they found no solution against Boston’s defense.
NBA Playoffs – Celtics vs. Heat: The Voices
Jayson Tatum (Celtics): “We were ourselves again. We knew we needed that victory. Everyone was ready to just play better. […] It goes back and forth in this series. Both teams train well and are very good defensively. Now it’s a best-of-three series. “
Jimmy Butler (Heat) on his bruised knee: “There’s no excuse for how I played today. I’m not worried about that.”
Erik Spoelstra (heat coach): “Whatever they did to us, we can do the same to them. No one here is happy with what happened.”
Game star: Jayson Tatum
Difficult to separate a single Celtic from the strong team construction. Horford and Williams were strong defensively, with White calling the shots on both sides of the field early, but Tatum made the most of the scoring. Although he also did not do much from downtown (1/7 three), he put his needle sticks in the zone and was an important reason why Boston had such a big advantage in penalty throws. In the end, he stood at +37!
Game flop: Start five of the heat
The entire first five of the guests were a total failure. At the break, the starters were 5/24 out of the field, which totaled 12 points. At the end of the match there were 18 points – the fewest in a playoff match in the league in 1970/71! There was nothing to see from the dominant Adebayo in game 3, Butler was a shadow of himself, Max Strus hit nothing on one side and was attacked defensively on the other – in fact, he did not put anything count for 15 minutes. There was not even a fire to be seen at Heatles.
Game scene
Horford had 4 blocks, including rebounds against Adebayo el this trinket against Caleb Martin. The 35-year-old did not let himself be shaken by his drive, instead he was always briefed and sent the reverse layup attempt into the second row. Robert Williams also had TD Garden in ecstasy with a block against Butler – Boston had a total of 11 blocks.
Miami Heat vs. Boston Celtics: The Series at a Glance (2-2)
| Game | date | time | home | gone | result |
| 1 | May 18 | 02.30 | Miami heat | Boston Celtics | 118: 107 |
| 2 | May 20 | 02.30 | Miami heat | Boston Celtics | 102: 127 |
| 3 | May 22 | 02.30 | Boston Celtics | Miami heat | 103: 109 |
| 4 | May 24 | 02.30 | Boston Celtics | Miami heat | 102: 82 |
| 5 | May 26 | 02.30 | Miami heat | Boston Celtics | – |
| 6 | May 28 | 02.30 | Boston Celtics | Miami heat | – |
| 7 * | 30. May | 02.30 | Miami heat | Boston Celtics | – |
*If necessary