Celtics stifle Heat to tie series at 2-2
BOSTON — The Heat left Jayson Tatum lying on the court with a pain in his neck in the closing minutes of Game 3.
The Celtics All-Star did his part to make sure the Heat were hurting after Game 4.
Tatum scored 31 points and Boston took its turn pounding Miami early, jumping out to a 26-4 lead and cruising to a 102-82 victory that evened the Eastern Conference finals at two games apiece.
“Obviously, we knew how important this game was,” Tatum said. “Everybody just had to come up with a different sense of urgency.”
Miami missed 15 of its first 16 shots as this bizarre series produced another game that was all but over after 12 minutes. The Heat led 39-18 after the first quarter of Game 3.
Boston improved to 5-0 this postseason following a loss. Coach Ime Udoka said the challenge is finding more consistency.
“Just got to muster that same energy when we came off a win as well as a loss,” Udoka said. “This is a threegame series now. Can’t always just flip the mindset when we come off a loss and get a little desperate.”
Game 5 is Wednesday in Miami.
Payton Pritchard had 14 points for the Celtics. Derrick White added 13 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and
Robert Williams finished with 12 points and nine rebounds.
“We just wanted to up the effort all-around,” Williams said.
The Celtics led by 27 points in the second quarter and stretched their advantage to 32 in the third. Each game in this series has featured a lead of at least 20 points, and none has been close down the stretch.
Victor Oladipo led the Heat with 23 points. Miami’s starting five of All-Star Jimmy Butler (six points), Kyle Lowry (three points), P.J. Tucker (no points), Max Strus (no points) and Bam Adebayo (nine points) were a combined 7-for-36 shooting. They all sat out the fourth quarter.
“They came out and jumped us,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We’re not making any excuses. They outplayed us tonight for sure. We never could get any kind of grip on the game.”
And the Celtics stymied the Heat without Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart, who sat with a sprained right ankle he suffered in the second half of Game 3.
The Heat were without Tyler Herro, who suffered a groin injury late in Game 3.