Second-half surge lifts Heat to win
Veteran guard scores 25, helps build 2-0 advantage in series
The Miami Heat and Boston Celtics sparred for the first 40 minutes or so, just as they did in Game 1 of these Eastern Conference finals … because the NBA insists you can’t move directly to crunch time.
No matter. For the second consecutive game, closing time was winning time for the Heat. On this occasion, they rallied from17 down for a106-101victory Thursday night at Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex.
Up 2-0 in the best-of-seven series that continues with Game 3 on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. on the neutral courts of the NBA quarantine bubble, the Heat turned to a zone defense, the shooting of Duncan Robinson and the dunking of Bam Adebayo to put it away.
It matched the largest playoff comeback in the Heat’s 32 seasons, previously accomplished in the 2012 NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
That series produced a championship. Now the Heat stand six wins fromanother.
Not that anything against the Celtics figures to be easy, considering that even after the Heat fought back from their 17-point deficit, they then blew an eightpoint deficit they built early in the final period.
With 4minutes, 35 seconds to play, the Heat were down five. With 3:03 to play it was tied 95-95. And then, just like that, the Heat were up seven with1:26 to play, holding on from there, with no need for the overtime period required in Game1.
“We like making it hard on ourselves,” forward Jimmy Butler said. “We like going down double digits and being the comeback kids.”
Goran Dragic led the Heat with 25 points, including nine in the fourth quarter, with Robinson converting six 3-pointers for 18 points, and Adebayo closing with 21 points and 10 rebounds. There also were 14 points from Butler, 12 from Jae Crowder and 11 from Tyler Herro.
“We just never gave up,” Butler said.
Kemba Walker led the Celtics with 23 points, with Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum each adding 21.
The Heat are 16-0 all time in playoff series when taking a 2-0 lead. Boston is 2-15 in series when falling behind 0-2.
Five degrees of Heat from Thursday night’s game:
1. Mr. Robinson: After shooting 2 of 7 on3-pointers inGame1, Robinson converted his first four
attempts from beyond the kept going fromthere.
“It’s nice to see those first ones go,” he said. “It builds confidence.”
The Heat’s first 12 points came in 3-pointers, nine from Robinson and three from Crowder. A Dragic 3-pointer then made it a 5-of-5 start from beyond the arc for the Heat.
And then it stopped, with the Heat 2 of 18 on threes the balance of a first half that ended with the Heat down60-47.
Celtic coach Brad Stevens said Robinson’s uneven shooting in Game 1 did not alter the Celtics’ focus.
“Robinson is a guy we couldn’t respect more with his ability to get shots off, tough shots, and make shots,” he said.
2. Dominant third: The Heat went from down 13 at halftime to up 84-77 going into the fourth.
Mixing in ample doses of zone defense, theHeat threwthe Celtics off balance in the third, forcing seven turnovers in the period and limiting Boston to 4-of-12 shooting arc and over the 12 minutes.
Adebayo scored 15 points in the third, with the Heat closing the period 14 of 24 fromthe field and 5 of 12 on 3-pointers, scoring 16 points off Boston’s turnovers.
No Celtic had more than one basket in the third, the Celtics had nine fouls to three assists in the period.
“We stopped playing on both ends,” Stevens said in his televised interview between the third and fourth quarters. “We didn’t cut at all, we didn’t pass at all, we didn’t play at all.”
3. Defensively deficient early: The Celtics shot .581 fromthe field in the first half, outscoring theHeat 32-18 in the paint over the first two periods.
Itwas a drastic contrast toGame 1, whentheHeat limited the Celtics to .443 shooting and outscored Boston 48-26 in the paint.
And, no, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was not happy.
“Our defensive disposition, level of detail, was reallypoor, that has to improve,” Spoelstra said in his televised interview after the first quarter, one which ended with theHeat down 31-28.
4. Rapidreversal: After a miserable two weeks, including his 6-of-19 shooting in Game 1, Walker opened the scoring with a 3 and kept going fromthere.
Walker was particularly efficient early in probing and creating against theHeat’s zone defense.
He closed 9 of 19 from the field and4of11on3-pointers, with seven rebounds.
5. More to follow: The face of the series could soon change with the arrival of a new face.
The Celtics again were without Gordon Hayward, who has been out since severely spraining his right ankle in the opening round. It was the 12th consecutive game Hayward has missed.
Hayward has been working with the Celtics in recent days, but mostly away from Boston’s contact sessions.
“Seems to be doing all right,” Stevens said pregame. “And we’ll have another update, I’m sure, tomorrow.”
Of the uncertainty with Hayward, Spoelstra said of the Heat preparations, “Of course, you had to prepare in the days leading up to this in the event he possibly could play. He’s close, so it’s going to happen at some point.”