CELTICS REMAIN IN HUNT
Boston erases early 12-point hole to cut series deficit to 3-2
Kemba Walker and the Celtics top Miami in Game 5 to stay alive in Eastern finals./
Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics clearly are not ready to see the world that exists outside the NBA’S restart bubble.
And a big second half extended their stay at Walt Disney World.
Tatum had 31 points and 10 rebounds, Jaylen Brown added 28 points and the Celtics staved off elimination by topping the Miami Heat 121-108 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals on Friday night.
The Heat lead the series 3-2, with Game 6 on Sunday.
Daniel Theis had 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Celtics, who trailed by 12 early but took control with a big third quarter. Kemba Walker scored 15 points, Marcus Smart added 12 and Gordon Hayward had 10 for the Celtics.
Goran Dragic scored 23 points before fouling out with 4:27 left for Miami, which got 20 from Duncan Robinson. Jimmy Butler scored 17, Tyler Herro and Jae Crowder each had 14 and Bam Adebayo 13 for the Heat — who could get nothing to fall from 3-point range.
Miami was 7-for-36 from beyond the arc, now shooting 24.8 percent
on 3s in its past 13 quarters — after shooting 38.3 percent in the playoffs before that drought.
Brown made back-to-back 3s in the fourth quarter to turn an eightpoint lead into a 103-89 margin with 8:05 left.
He turned and blew a kiss to the Heat bench after the second one, reminiscent of something Herro did during his 37-point barrage in Game 4.
The opening minutes didn’t go according to plan for Boston, which missed 11 of its first 12 shots, committed four turnovers in that dismal stretch to make matters even worse, and got into a 17-5 hole very early.
But they weathered all that and, even after shooting only 40 percent in the first half, Boston trailed 58-51 at the break — never leading, but never letting Miami get too far removed from view.
The Heat scored the first basket of the third quarter. The next few minutes were all Celtics.
They went on a 13-0 run over a stretch of only 3:06 to turn a ninepoint deficit into a 64-60 lead, and the game changed just that fast. A separate 7-0 burst followed, Walker connected on a 3-pointer with 4:26 left for a 77-67 edge — Boston’s first double-digit cushion of the night — and the Celtics eventually led by 14 before settling for a 92-83 lead going into the fourth.
“In all sincerity, first time I’ve seen Celtics basketball in the last few games,” Stevens told his team during a timeout.