MIAMI, United States —
Jimmy Butler scored
41 points as the Miami Heat produced a devastating comeback to defeat the
Boston Celtics 118–107 in their opening Eastern Conference finals series clash
on Tuesday.
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Butler led a revitalized
Miami second-half display
as the Heat transformed an eight-point half-time deficit into a double-digit
lead against a depleted Celtics side at Miami’s FTX Arena.
Trailing 62–54 at the break, Miami outscored the Celtics
39–14 in the third quarter to set up a victory that gives the Eastern
Conference top seeds a 1–0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Butler received scoring support from Tyler Herro,
with 18 points, and Gabe Vincent with 17 points.
But the win owed as much to Miami’s renewed
defensive effort in the second half, with the Heat shutting down Boston’s
Jayson Tatum and forcing a series of crucial turnovers and 11 blocks throughout
the game.
“The guys were just really disappointed at
half-time,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said.
“I barely needed to say anything. Everyone was just
really disappointed at our defensive focus and effort,” added Spoelstra,
praising the leadership of Butler during the third-quarter blitz.
“Jimmy just inspired everybody in that third
quarter,” Spoelstra said.
“Every time and pocket in the game when we needed
control, or to get the right shot, or make the right decision, Jimmy had his
fingerprints on it.”
Butler said Miami had decided to go back to basics
in the second half.
“Keep the game easy, simple, learn to capitalize off
their mistakes,” Butler said. “That’s what changed in the second half. I didn’t
change anything. I continued to play basketball the right way. Shoot the ball
when I’m open, hit the open guy.”
‘Lost composure’
The Celtics shrugged off the
injury absence of Marcus Smart and Al Horford (
COVID-19 protocol) to look the
sharper side in the first half, taking a 10-4 lead in the opening minutes.
Miami were initially unable to cope with the
movement of Tatum, who bagged a career-high 21 points in the opening two
quarters, shooting nine-of-14 from the field.
Boston led by as much as 13 at one stage in the
second quarter before Miami trimmed the deficit to eight points at the
interval.
Robert Williams, starting in place of
Horford, also
delivered a big first-half performance with 5-of-5 shooting for 12 points as
well as two crucial blocks to deny Miami.
But it was a different story after the break as
Miami out-hustled the Celtics defensively while raining down a deluge of buckets.
An incredible 22–2 run changed the complexion of the
game and powered Miami into a 12-point lead at 76–64.
A nine-point Boston run cut the Miami lead to three
points at 76–73, but the Heat rediscovered their scoring momentum and pulled
away once more.
Two more Butler free throws made it 93–76 heading
into the fourth quarter, and a 17-point lead became 20 soon afterwards.
Boston chipped away at the Miami lead to get within
single digits, but Miami held on to claim the series opener.
Boston coach Ime Udoka could not hide his
disappointment at the decisive third quarter that changed the game. The Celtics
outscored Miami in every other quarter.
“We just lost our composure,” Udoka said. “We won
three-quarters other than that one. We semi-bounced back in the fourth and
played well again and matched their physicality. But 39–14 is tough to
overcome.
“We had one poor quarter that hurt us and it was
strictly from a physicality standpoint. It wasn’t anything different that they
did.
“They just came out and imposed their will.
Disappointing that we came out as flat as we did. “
“They increased the physicality and it made that
much of a difference.”
Game two takes place in Miami on Thursday.
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