On May 20, Beijing time, the NBA playoffs continued. In today's Eastern Conference finals, the Celtics lost to the Heat again 105-111 at home, and the series aggregate score became 0-2!
Although the Celtics lost at home again, Tatum played well. In the game, Tatum played a total of 42 minutes, shooting 10 of 20, including 3 of 10 three-pointers and 11 of 12 free throws, totaling 34 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists, all three of which were team-high.
The Green Army quickly fell behind at the start of the first quarter, with Tatum scoring a basket and then hitting a 3-pointer against Adebayo. Tatum then assisted Horford's layup, then White's three-pointer. Later in the quarter, Tatum hit another basket, followed by a 3-pointer at 45 degrees on the left side. Before the end of the quarter, Tatum took off the rebound and pushed the fast attack to make two fouls, and when he made free throws, the fans chanted MVP for him!
After the start of the second quarter, Tatum assisted his teammates on consecutive three-pointers, and once again singled Vincent to hit a free throw to lead the team with a 21-2 offensive wave. But then Tatum came off the break, and the Green Army came to a standstill again, trailing the Heat 50-54 to end the first half. Tatum had 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists on 5-of-9 shooting in the first half.
At the start of the second half, Tatum quickly hit a layup and a rebound, then broke through to the basket to complete the dunk. After the timeout, Tatum rushed to the basket to make both free throws and broke through Love's rebound again. Facing the Heat's chasing points, Tatum once again rolled over and hit a jumper from mid-range. After a timeout, Tatum faced Butler's defense and stepped back to hit a direct three-pointer. He then caused Martin to commit a three-point foul and hit two of three free throws. In this quarter, Tatum single-handedly hit 15 points and six rebounds to help the team rally by eight points.
In the final quarter, Tatum returned to the court after a short break, and he quickly assisted Grant Williams for a dunk, but then the Green Army fell behind, Tatum made a three-point foul in the final 50 seconds, and then hit a foul and made two free throws, but as he deflected a three-pointer, the Heat hit a free throw, and the Green Army still lost the game.
It is worth mentioning that with his 14th point in the second quarter, Tatum exceeded the 2,000-point mark in the playoffs, becoming the third player under the age of 25 to score 2,100 points in the playoffs after Kobe (2694) and Durant (2109).
According to the schedule, the Celtics and Heat will meet in the third leg on May 22, when the Celtics will play on the road.