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 [May 02, 2024]
Derrick White and Jaylen Brown each tossed in 25 points to
help the Boston Celtics wrap up their Eastern Conference first-round
playoff series against the visiting Miami Heat with a 118-84 victory
in Game 5 on Wednesday.
Jayson Tatum added 16 points and 12 rebounds for the top-seeded
Celtics, who won the final three games in the best-of-seven series.
Boston will play either fourth-seeded Cleveland or fifth-seeded
Orlando in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Cavaliers have a
3-2 lead over the Magic in that series, which resumes Friday.
"We came in and threw the first punch," Brown said. "We played fast.
We played aggressive and found a way to get a win. That was the best
thing.
"Just take it one game at a time. We just gotta keep staying with
it. We gotta clean up some stuff that we've been messing up on and
we're going to keep getting better as the playoffs go on. It's
always great to advance, but tomorrow we get ready for whoever's
next."
White and Sam Hauser each made five 3-pointers in the Celtics' win.
Hauser finished with 17 points off the bench.
Bam Adebayo led the Heat with 23 points and six assists, and Tyler
Herro added 15 points. Caleb Martin and Thomas Bryant each finished
with 10 points, the only other Miami players who scored in double
figures.
Eighth-seeded Miami shot 3 of 29 (10.3 percent) from 3-point range
and was outrebounded 56-29.
The Heat, who didn't have Jimmy Butler (knee) or Terry Rozier (neck)
for the series, were also without rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. on
Wednesday. Jaquez was diagnosed with a right hip flexor strain that
also caused him to miss the fourth quarter of Game 4.
"We're not going to put this on the fact that we've had some
injuries," Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. "Let's not take anything
away from Boston. They've been the best team in basketball all
season long, and in this series in four of the games they played as
such.
[to top of second column] |
May 1, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; The Jumbotron is seen
before game five of the first round of the 2024 NBA playoffs between
the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat at TD Garden. Mandatory
Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
"They've got a very good team. They know what
they're doing and they deserved this one. ... You could sense that
they wanted this to end right now, tonight, and not let this thing
get back to Miami. That's a sign of a mature team."
Boston played Wednesday without Kristaps Porzingis, who will be
sidelined for an unspecified amount of time with a soleus (calf)
strain. Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said Porzingis would be
re-evaluated next week.
The score was tied 11-11 early, but Boston took control by scoring
21 of the next 26 points, a run capped by a Hauser 3-pointer. The
Celtics made eight 3-pointers in the opening quarter and had a 41-23
lead after 12 minutes.
The Celtics extended the lead to 30 points in the second quarter and
had a 68-46 advantage at halftime. Boston led 98-66 after three
quarters and rested its starters for much of the fourth. The Celtics
were up by 37 at one point in the final quarter.
"I thought we got off to a good start and we were consistent
throughout the entire game, which is really hard to do against a
team like that," Mazzulla said. "That's something I think this team
has done throughout the entire year is play with a high level of
consistency, a high level of focus, a high level of physicality."
--Field Level Media
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