Celtics’ defense throttles Heat
Boston moves one win from berth in Finals
MIAMI — The Boston Celtics know the formula. They believe their defense, as has been the case time and again in these playoffs, eventually will wear down opponents.
Hard to argue.
Jaylen Brown scored 25 points, Jayson Tatum added 22, and the Celtics moved one win from the NBA Finals. They ran away after halftime to beat top-seeded Miami 93-80 on Wednesday and take a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference title series.
“The mental stress and strain we put on some teams with our defense has worked and carried us through the playoffs at times,” Celtics coach Ime Udoka said.
Al Horford scored 16 points and Derrick White 14 for Boston.
Tatum added 12 rebounds and nine assists.
Bam Adebayo had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Heat, who shot 32 percent — after shooting 33 percent in the Celtics’ 20-point win in Game 4. Gabe Vincent added 15 points, Jimmy Butler 13 and Duncan Robinson 11 for Miami.
The Heat missed 38 of 45 3-point tries. They played without the injured Tyler Herro (groin), and several Miami players were questionable entering the day for a variety of ailments.
“We are not going to make any kind of deflection or any kind of excuse,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Boston beat us tonight. And let’s be clear about that. There’s guys that are far from 100 percent on both sides.”
Game 6 is in Boston on Friday, where two trophies bearing the names of Celtics legends will be waiting. The Bob Cousy trophy goes to the East champs and the Larry Bird trophy to the East finals MVP. The Celtics are one win from hoisting them.
“We’ve got an opportunity to do something with this group that’s special,” Brown said. “Let’s not take that for granted.”
This series has seen massive momentum swings — a 44-14 Miami run in Game 1, a 60-21 Boston run in Game 2, a 46-20 Miami run to open Game 3 followed by a 57-33 Boston run in the same game and a 26-4 spurt by the Celtics to open Game 4.
The Game 5 run was just as big.
The score over a 6½-minute stretch of the second half: Celtics 24, Heat 2. The turnaround was 59-58 Boston to 83-60 Boston.
“In the first half, it was tough because we weren’t hitting shots and we were turning the ball over,” Horford said. “But the key for us was continuing to do what we do defending, and then on offense playing how we play. And eventually we were able to get it going.”
Boston outscored Miami 32-16 in the third quarter, holding the Heat to 17 percent shooting. The margin was only 11 at that point — but the Celtics opened the fourth quarter with a 14-2 spurt. Brown capped the flurry by making three 3-pointers in a 2½-minute span, and the lead was 23.
“We’re still lining up,” Adebayo said. “We’ve still got to play these games. We still want to win.”