Beijing time on May 18, the first game of the Eastern Conference finals began, the Heat defeated the Celtics 123-116, and the black eight miracle may continue. The Heat trailed by nine points at halftime, and never thought of the sudden change in the third quarter, and won the Celtics by 21 points 46-25 in a single quarter. Because of the strong play in the third quarter, the Heat directly reversed the trend of the game.
In the first half, the Celtics, who had experienced the seven-game battle, did not tire at all, grasped the home court advantage, and Tatum, who set a record for seven points in the last game, still maintained a super high standard, scoring 18 points at halftime, especially 11 points in the second quarter, establishing a lead for the Celtics. Although the Heat trailed here, Jimmy Butler scored 12 points in the first quarter and Lowry's 13 points in the second quarter to keep the team in double digits.
In the third quarter, it became Jimmy Butler's performance moment. He shot 3-of-5, 1-of-1 from three-point range, and 5-of-5 from the free throw line for 12 points, plus 3 boards and 3 assists. The offensive and defensive ends showed their super level, not only shooting various difficult jump shots, but also constantly killing the Celtics' interior linemen, and connecting with Adebayo to help the team score, but also completely disrupted the Celtics' rhythm. The third quarter was Adebayo's inside dominance, he shot 4 of 6, cut 9 points, 2 boards, 1 assist and 1 steal in a single quarter, and combined with Butler to cut 21 points, and the two brothers scored in the third quarter to catch up with the Celtics' team. There is no doubt that these two are key figures in this reversal.
Unlike the Heat, Tatum's form in the first half didn't carry over into the second half, and he was a little better in the third quarter, scoring six points on 2-of-4 shooting. When trailing in the fourth quarter, the athletic battle actually did not score, relying on 6 of 6 free throws, scoring 6 points, and almost every shot can get free throws. As another stable scoring point, Brown, one of the double scouts, failed to stand up in the second half of the game, playing the last quarter but playing crazy iron, shooting 0 of 4 from three-point range, shooting 3-of-7 from the field for only 42.9%, and only scored 6 points.
That efficiency was low for Brown, who scored only 11 points on the offensive end in the second half, plus Tatum's 12 points, and the two scouts combined for 23 points in the second half, but that was only Adebayo and Butler's third-quarter score. As the main scorer of the Celtics, the double scouts did not stand up in time when the team was behind, and also sent errors at key moments, and the two combined to send 10 turnovers, which was fatal for the Celtics.
And Jimmy Butler deserves to be the man second only to Jokic in this playoffs, it's too tough. Especially in the third quarter, all kinds of unreasonable drifting shots were scored, and Sheng Sheng pulled the Heat back from the brink of losing. 12 of 25 shooting, 2 of 4 three-pointers, shooting 48% from the field, 9 of 10 free throws, 35 points, 5 boards, 7 assists and 6 steals, showing the absolute strength of both the offensive and defensive ends. The data of 35+5+5+5 is amazing.
On the whole, in addition to Jimmy Butler, the Heat are all soldiers, especially the outside shot decisive and efficient, shooting 16 of 31 from three-point range, shooting 51.6%, 46 of 85 from the field, shooting 54.1% from the field, 15 of 19 free throws, 78.9% from the free-throw line. It's hard to imagine that this is an away statistic, it's hard to lose with efficiency.
Heat shooting stats
On the other hand, the Celtics at home have a poor three-point shooting percentage. He shot just 10 of 29 from the field, shooting just 34.5 percent, which is more than half a step off from the Heat's three-point range. But the Celtics shot OK, shooting 42 of 81 for a percentage of more than 5. The two teams have 35-for-34 rebounds, the Celtics have 29 free throws, 10 more than the Heat, and the two teams are about 12-for-15 in turnovers, with the home team having more. So on the whole, the Heat won on a three-point shot, and the three-point rain made the Celtics overwhelmed.
Although the home game was lost, but the Celtics did not lose the series, the next game must win back, otherwise with a 0-2 away game, or with Butler's Heat, it will be difficult to bring the series back. So in the next game, the double prospect must be hardened, like Butler, and the series will have suspense.