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A bit of soul-searching and an upgrade in aggressiveness made a
major difference in Game 3 as the Miami Heat center played one
of the top games of his five-year career and repeatedly made
demonstrative plays indicative of his first name -- Bam!
Adebayo exploded for 31 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and
four steals on Saturday night to lead the Heat to a 109-103
victory over the host Boston Celtics.
"I had to pick up my weight," Adebayo said after the Heat took a
2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. "These last couple games,
my team was depending on me and I didn't show up. I took it upon
myself to lock in and get the win."
Adebayo made 15 of 22 field-goal attempts after taking just 10
total shots over the first two games. Adebayo scored 10 points
in Miami's Game 1 win and just six in its Game 2 loss.
"He's a winning player," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of
Adebayo. "He really is the heart and soul of our group. You can
count on him all the time. He doesn't get caught up in all the
noise. He's just out there competing and playing winning
basketball, doing it on both ends."
Adebayo's stellar performance was much-needed with Miami star
Jimmy Butler missing the second half due to right knee
inflammation. Butler scored eight points in 20 minutes.
Spoelstra said he didn't have an update but did indicate Butler
won't need to undergo an MRI exam.
Jaylen Brown set a personal playoff high with 40 points and also
collected nine rebounds for the Celtics, who committed 24
turnovers. Al Horford added 20 points and 14 rebounds but Jayson
Tatum had just 10 points on 3-of-14 shooting and committed six
turnovers.
"Unacceptable. I've got to play better," Tatum said of his
performance. "I feel like I left the guys hanging tonight.
That's on me."
Game 4 is Monday night in Boston.
The Celtics never led on Saturday and trailed by as many as 26
points early in the second quarter.
"We didn't match (their physicality) from the start," Boston
coach Ime Udoka said. "We got into complaining and let it take
us out of our game. It's disappointing to come out that flat in
a conference finals game."
Still, the Celtics had a chance to post a comeback victory
before the Heat held them off down the stretch.
Miami led by 13 with 6:30 left before Boston responded with 12
consecutive points. Brown scored 10 of them, including a
3-pointer that cut the Heat's lead to 93-92 with 2:40 to play.
Miami suddenly reawakened as Max Strus drained a 3-pointer,
Adebayo hit a jumper and P.J. Tucker made two free throws to
make it 100-92 with 1:07 left.
Boston was unable to get closer than six the rest of the way.
Tucker contributed 17 points and seven rebounds and Strus scored
16 points for the Heat, who shot 46.7 percent from the field,
including 11 of 33 from 3-point range. Miami committed nine
turnovers.
Kyle Lowry returned from a hamstring injury and recorded 11
points, six assists and four steals. Miami had 19 steals
overall.
"We found a way," Lowry said. "Something about this team is that
we have guys that are just hard workers."
Marcus Smart had 16 points and seven assists for Boston despite
briefly leaving the game in the third quarter with a sprained
right ankle.
The Celtics played without Robert Williams III (left knee).
Tatum briefly left in the fourth quarter due to a right shoulder
stinger.
Boston made 48.6 percent of its field-goal attempts, including
12 of 32 from behind the arc.
The Heat led by 15 when Butler was ruled out -- Victor Oladipo
started the second half in his place -- and still led by that
margin (87-72) when the third quarter concluded.
Adebayo scored 12 first-quarter points as Miami sprinted out to
a 39-18 advantage. The Heat extended their lead to 46-20 on
Caleb Martin's 3-pointer with 9:43 remaining in the half en
route to a 62-47 lead at the break.
"We started out flat," Brown said. "Seemed like we were looking
around too much instead of playing the game. We didn't match
their intensity out of the gate."
--Field Level Media
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