Vincent, Heat thrash Celtics for commanding 3-0 series lead

The Miami Heat shot the lights out and left the Boston Celtics in the dark late Sunday night in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Another performance like that in Game 4 on Tuesday in Miami and the eighth-seeded Heat will advance to the NBA Finals for the second time in four seasons.

Gabe Vincent scored a careerhigh 29 points in Miami’s 128102 victory over visiting Boston on Sunday.

Vincent made 11 of 14 shots from the floor – including 6-of-9 from 3-point range – and Duncan Robinson and Caleb Martin scored 22 and 18 points off the bench, respectively.

Jimmy Butler collected 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists for the Heat, who shot a blistering 56.8 percent from the field (46-of-81) and 54.3 percent from 3-point range (19-of-35). Miami improved to 6-0 at home in the playoffs.

“That was a solid, mature, professional approach,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “There is a lot of pent-up stuff here and we’re getting closer, but we still have to finish this off.”

Bam Adebayo scored 13 points and Max Strus added 10 as the Heat seized control of the contest by outscoring the second-seeded Celtics by a 32-17 margin in the third quarter.

Boston’s Jayson Tatum recorded 14 points and 10 rebounds and Jaylen Brown scored 12 points, although the pair combined to make just 12 of 35 shots from the floor and 1-of-14 from on 3s.

“Collectively we can point fingers, but in reality, it was just embarrassing,” Brown said.

The Celtics have their backs against the wall. No team in NBA history has overcome a 3-0 deficit to win a series.

The Los Angeles Lakers also faced a 3-0 series deficit to the

Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference heading into Monday’s Game 4.

Boston whittled a 22-point deficit down to 12 at 61-49 after Marcus Smart converted a threepoint play to start the third quarter. Miami answered with a 28-9 run to seize control of the game, highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers by Vincent.

The Heat carried a 93-63 lead into the fourth quarter before both teams opted to rest their stars. Vincent sandwiched 3-pointers around a three-point play and Robinson converted from beyond the arc to extend Miami’s advantage to 112-83 with 4:43 to play. (Reuters)