Celtics Bounce Back, Blowout Heat – The unstoppable duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown each scored 22 points, and the Boston Celtics soundly took care of the Miami Heat in a wire-to-wire 104-84 victory on Saturday night to a take a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.
“We didn’t make too many adjustments,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “We played a little bit harder; we played harder and we dictated the physicality and the tempo of the game. It’s the simple things that you have to do under a high level of stress, high level of adversity. I thought our guys did a great job of dictating that tonight.”
Tatum did not just score the ball, he did other necessary things as well, such as rebounding, with 10, and getting his teammates involved handing out six helpers for the Celtics, who led Game 3 from beginning to end and took back the all-important home-court advantage that they surrendered when Miami won Game 2, 111-101, in Boston. Kristaps Porzingis had 18 points and Derrick White scored 16 for the Celtics, who used surges of 12-3, 11-0 and 20-8 in the first half to take full control.
Bam Adebayo scored a team-high 20 points for eighth-seeded Miami, which remains without starters Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier because of MCL and neck spasms, respectively. Nikola Jovic and Tyler Herro each scored 15 for the Heat, who got 12 from rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr.
“They took us out of stuff we would like to get to,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “They were the more physical team. They bodied us, bullied us on screens, got through stuff, distorted screens, everything. … You have to credit them for that. They were the more physical team, the team with more physicality and force on both ends of the court.”
It was a season low on two fronts; in points scored by the Heat, a season low in points given up for Boston.
This is not the Celtics first rodeo when it comes to rebounding from bad loses. The Celtics, the No. 1 overall seed in the playoffs, with a 64-18 record, do not lose often, and when they do, they tend to just come out and win their next one. Boston is now 15-4 in the game immediately coming off a loss this season, its average margin of victory in those games 12.2 points.
The Celtics never trailed in Game 1, a 114-94 decision, and likewise, never trailed in Game 3, on their way to defeating the Heat for the fifth time in six meetings this season. The Celtics came out of the gate slow and Miami started slower, Boston leading by nine, 21-12, at the end of the first quarter and setting the tone immediately for how nothing would come without a fight for the Heat.
It was Miami’s lowest-scoring first quarter in its last 197 games, dating back to the 2022 playoffs, also against the Celtics, when the Heat could only manage a sparse 11 points in the opening 12 minutes of Game 4 of that East finals’ series.
With six minutes to go in the first half, for a moment it seemed like Miami had weathered the eye of the storm. The Heat were staying connected and making a bit of a run, the fans had something to cheer about finally and Herro had an uncontested look at a shot from downtown that would have gotten the Heat within 10. It rimmed out. The monsoon was not over, in fact, it was just getting started.
The Celtics outscored Miami 20-8 in the next 4 ½ minutes of game time to go up by 25, 61-36, and that was when a large contingent of fans decided to head for halftime concessions a bit early. It was 63-39 at halftime and Boston dominant in every phase of the game; a 19-2 edge in points off turnovers, a 26-12 scoring edge in the paint, 27-15 in rebounds, 13-6 in assists.
The lead was extended to as much as 29 in the second half, Miami never getting closer than 18 after halftime.
Game 4 is Monday in the 305, Miami, where the Celtics are an impressive 9-2 in their last 11 games and 6-1 in their last seven postseason contests.
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LeBron, Lakers Stave Off Elimination, Beat Mavericks – In a game that would have stopped their season in its tracks and left them with more questions than answers this offseason, including the future of their coach, Darvin Ham, the Los Angeles Lakers fought back and avoided elimination with a 119-108 victory over the Denver Nuggets in Game 4 Saturday night. The win snaps the Nuggets 11-game winning streak over the Lakers, including their last seven playoff games and sends this series back to the ‘Mile High City’, Denver for Game 5 on Monday where the Lakers will get another chance to keep their season alive.
“We’ve given ourselves another lifeline, and it’s a one-game series for us,” James said. “Monday’s game is the most important game of the season for us, and we understand that.”
The Lakers led by as many as 19 points and never trailed, increasing the number of minutes they have led in this series to 136:29 out of the 192 total played to this point. This speaks volumes about how talented they are and their ability to play winning basketball, while the only thing that matters, the final score, has leaned in the Nuggets favor and shown their propensity for the dramatic in their comebacks and, ultimately, close out the Lakers down the stretch to claim Ws.
However, it was a different story in Game 4, as the Lakers were able to fix the areas in which they had been outplayed in the previous matchups, winning the battle of the backboards 46-40 and holding serve in the 3rd quarter to only lose two points off their 13-point halftime lead, setting up the final frame as the ultimate test as to whether the team would have the mettle and fortitude to hold off the defending champs.
The Lakers did just that, matching every Nuggets surge with a counterpunch of their own, getting clutch key buckets whenever Denver started to gain some traction and pull the game in their direction while mixing in enough defensive stops, and rebounds, to be able to hold on down the stretch.
LeBron James was brilliant in the fourth quarter, when it mattered most, scoring 14 of his 30 points, mostly on drives to the tin and power post ups. When his team needed his leadership and for him to be at his best, LeBron delivered by making six of his eight shot attempts from the field while playing every second in the quarter (and 14 of 23 overall) to carry the team’s offense on his broad shoulders. Playing mostly out of the pick-and-roll with guards and his big men setting screens for him, LeBron either drove against Denver’s drop coverage defense or posted up against switches to control the flow of the game.
Beyond attacking the rim all night (18 of LeBron’s shot attempts were in the paint), LeBron also collected five rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block, playing an all-around game, particularly in the 2nd half when the intensity picked up tenfold and his defensive versatility was most needed.
One of LeBron’s thefts came with 2:42 left in the game when he swiped the ball from Jokic on what was going to be a handoff action with Murray, poking the ball away and then recovering the ball for an open court dunk that pushed the Lakers lead back up to 10. Which they were then able to hold onto down the stretch.
Anthony Davis pulled off his best Moses Malone impression and was outstanding in this game, continuing his string of strong performances this entire series. AD finished with 25 points and a playoff career-high 23 rebounds to go along with six assists, another high-level night on both sides of the ball and an offensive performance in which he continuously got good looks against Denver’s elite defense.
Davis knocked down 11 of his 17 shots from the field, with all but one of those attempts coming in the block and all but three of those coming right at or within the restricted area. AD drove, dove, posted, and slashed his way to the cup, using a combination of quickness and power to keep the defense on its toes and off balance.
But it was Davis’ work on the glass that was his biggest contribution to the game, grabbing half of his team’s total rebounds and helping the Lakers win the battle of the backboards 46-40, the first time in the series the Lakers outrebounded Denver. And while AD only had one field goal attempt in the 4th quarter, he was still a threat and in the middle of the action, setting ball screens to help free up LeBron, D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves to get downhill and into the paint where they could score at will or create offense for others.
“We get another opportunity to go play one more game, and if we win, come back and play another one and keep moving from there,” Reaves said. “Odds aren’t stacked in our favor, but anytime we can keep ourselves floating above water and give ourselves an opportunity to do something special, we’re up for the challenge.”
After closing Game 3 strong, Reaves carried that momentum forward to score 21 points and dish out six assists on seven of 15 shooting while making all six of his free throws. Austin was excellent getting downhill both coming off screens and when working in isolation, and then either getting good shots for himself or his teammates once he got to the paint.
As for Russell, he had a great bounce-back performance after putting up a goose egg in Game 3. Russell matched Reaves with 21 points of his own, burying four of his eight triples and eight of his 15 shots overall. Russell shot the ball with great confidence from downtown, but also mixed in crafty drives for tough floaters and smooth finishes at the rim. Add in his four rebounds and four assists, and Russell played a strong floor game and really helped to lift his team when their backs were against the wall.
The Nuggets did not just roll over and die and let the Lakers do whatever they wanted all game. Denver got some excellent performances of their own, with Jokic posting a 33, 14, and 14 triple-double and Michael Porter Jr. continuing his strong series with a 27-point, 11-rebound game in which he made ten of his 20 field goals and swished four 3s. Jamal Murray’s stat sheet looked nice, putting up 22 points, however he needed 23 shot attempts to get those points and did not make a three-pointer on his four attempts.
Give the Lakers all the credit in the world for continuing to push and for making the plays they needed to, even as Denver started to turn up the heat with clear intentions on breaking the Lakers heart one last time. But it was not meant to be on this night. And now the Lakers will try to build on the momentum from this game when they play Game 5 in Denver on Monday, which has been a house of horrors for them.
