Revenge is sweet for the Celtics after the Miami Massacre. In 2023, Miami embarrassed Boston in a Game 7 showdown on their home floor. Since their shocking dramatic loss in Game 2 last Wednesday, the Boston Celtics have been clicking on all cylinders.
The Celtics, without having to break a sweat, dominated their way to a third consecutive blowout win over the shorthanded Miami Heat, who came into the game with two hands tied behind their back on Wednesday night, to put the finishing touches on their opening-round playoff series at TD Garden. The Celtics, after nearly grabbing a 20-point lead after the first quarter, rolled to a 118-84 win in Game 5 of their series with the Heat.
That paved the way for Boston to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals for the seventh time in the last eight seasons.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Celtics did not waste any time letting the game come to them Wednesday, taking the bull by horn, being the aggressor, and for all intent and purposes, ending the game after the initial 12 minutes. They were on fire from downtown, hitting eight 3s in the first period and shot a blistering 14 of 21 from the field to grab an 18-point lead at the first break, 41-23. Derrick White, who has raised his level of play significantly throughout this series, had 15 of his 25 points in the first quarter.
The Celtics started the second quarter much like they ended the first, on a 14-2 surge, punctuated by a huge Jaylen Brown 3-pointer, to take an insurmountable 30-point lead. Though the Heat made the score somewhat respectable prior to halftime, they still entered the locker room down by 22 points.
By then, the game was over. The Celtics pushed their lead back to 30 points in the third quarter and then simply held on to grab the 34-point W. The Celtics won all four games convincingly in this series by double digits, and won by an average of 22 points per contest.
Bam Adebayo, who was their only consistent offensive threat, led the Heat with 23 points, all but two of which he scored in the first half. He had six assists and five rebounds, as well. Tyler Herro added a quiet 15 points and shot just 1 of 8 from 3-point range. Caleb Martin finished with 10 points, and was the only other Heat player to reach double figures.
Despite the lopsided loss and the way their season wrapped, Adebayo said he is taking lessons into the offseason.
“We’ve gained a lot of mental toughness,” he said. “Going through that as a captain, it helped me understand that the ship’s going to get rocky sometimes.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said it was clear early that the Celtics were playing with some extra energy from the opening tap.
“They probably had something to motivate them even more against us,” he said.
Brown finished with 25 points and six rebounds, and White had six rebounds to go with his 25 points. Jayson Tatum finished with a double-double, contributing 16 points and 12 boards. They shot nearly 55% from the field as a team, and demolished the Heat nearly doubling them in rebounding, 56-29.
The Celtics are now the first team in the Eastern Conference to make it out of the opening round of the playoffs. They await the winner of the Cleveland Cavaliers-Orlando Magic series. The Cavaliers hold a 3-2 series lead there headed into Friday’s Game 6 at Kia Center.
Though the Celtics are safely into the next round, Kristaps Porzingis is not coming back anytime in the near future.
The Celtics center, who suffered a calf strain after making an awkward move in their Game 4 win on Monday, is not expected to be available until at the earliest the Eastern Conference finals, according to TNT’s Chris Haynes.
That means that, after their win Wednesday, the Celtics will have to at least make it out of the semifinals past either the Cavaliers or Magic without his services. Even then, there is no guarantee that Porzingis will be available for the start of the conference finals.
Porzingis has been the ultimate safety valve, averaging 20.1 points and 7.2 rebounds per game this season with the Celtics. He has averaged 12.3 points and five rebounds so far in their opening-round playoff series, and he put up 18 points in both of their wins in Game 1 and Game 3.
