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Posts tagged as “2023 NBA Eastern Conference Finals”

Boston Celtics forces Games 7 on White’s buzzer-beater tip-in (104-103)

May 28, 2023

The Boston Celtics are on the verge of making NBA history as they force a “winner-take-all” Game 7 against the Miami Heat after losing the first 3 games of the series.

Miami Heat are just 3 seconds away from their second trip to the NBA finals in 4 years, after Jimmy Butler made all 3 of his free-throw, but Derrick White had other plans instead as he beat the buzzer with a putback to force a Game 7 in the 2023 NBA Eastern Conference finals. Derrick White only scored 11 points on a 4 of 10, where 3 shots are from beyond the arc and his last and only field goal in the paint is the most important one. Jason Tatum once again lead the Boston Celtics, scoring 31 points with 12 rebs and 2 blocks. Jalen Brown has 26 points and Marcus Smart, whose shot is the one that White tipped-in, scored 21 points but -10 in the plus/minus department.

Despite the pressure that the team will face in Boston, Jimmy Butler is still confident that they will close the series in Boston. “We’ve got to go on the road and do something special.. “But we’ve got a special group.” Butler said in his postgame interview. Butler lead the Heat in scoring 24 points with 11 rebs and 8 assists, followed by Calen Martin’s 21 points, with 4 from the three-point line, and 15 rebs. Gabe Vincent, Bam Adebayo and Max Strus were also a big help in the game by scoring 15 pts, 11 pts and 10 points, respectively.

This was a game that Heat should have won, since Boston shot only 20% from beyond the arc, compare to the 46% from Miami. Game 7 will be in Boston, which could be a replay of last year’s East Conference Finals or we would be watching a totally different movie.

Boston Celtics routs Miami Heat to extend series to Game 6 (110 – 97)

May 27, 2023

In another shooting clinic, the Boston Celtics easily dispatch the Miami Heat at home to further extend the series to game 6 and putting more pressure to Jimmy Butler and company to close the series in Miami.

Four Boston players scored more than 20-pts with at least 1 three-points made. Derrick White lead the Celtics with 24-pts, making 6 of 8 three-points shot. Jason Tatum once again made sure that his teammates are in the game by dishing a team-high 11 assists, he also scored 21 pts and 8 rebs. Smart and Brown also chipped-in scoring 23 points and 21 points, respectively. As good as their offense, it was their defense that won the game for Boston. As a team the Boston Celtics made 13 steals, 37 rebounds and 4 blocks with just 9 turnover.

Jimmy Butler in his postgame interview said “We’re always going to stay positive, knowing that we can and we will win the series… We just have to close it out at home.” Butler scored 14 points with 5 rebs and 5 assist but was -24 in the plus/minus column. Miami’s leading scorer is Duncan Robinson with 18 points and 9 assists. Bam Adebayo added 16 points and eight rebounds but -15 in the plus/minus. Caleb Martin finished with 14 points, while Gabe Vincent sat out of the game due to an ankle injury.

Boston Celtics are two wins away in becoming the first NBA team to come back from a 0-3 deficit. Game 6 of Eastern Conference Finals will be at Miami this Saturday evening at the Kaseya Center.

Boston Celtics avoids sweeps as they defeat Miami Heat 116-99

May 24, 2023

The Boston Celtics lead by Jason Tatum to defeat the Miami Heat in Game 4 of the 2023 NBA Eastern Conference Finals.

It was a close game in the first 3qtrs but the Celtics blew the game wide-open in the final quarte to gain a 17 points lead which made sure that they will return to Boston for another chance to extend the series.

Six Boston players have scored in double-digits lead by Tatum scoring 34 points making 4 three-points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists; Brown’s 17-points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists and Derrick White with his 16-points, with 3 of 7 from the beyond the three-point line.

As a team the Miami Heat just shot 8 of 32 (25%) from the three-point line and just 18 assists, compare to Celtics’ 28 ast.

Miami’s leading scorer Jimmy Butler said “We’ve got to play like our backs are against the wall. But I think all year long, we’ve been better when we’ve had to do things the hard way.”

The series will now shift back to Boston where the Celtics will have another chance to extend the series.

Heat routs Celtics to take 3 – 0 series lead in the 2023 NBA Eastern Conference Finals

May 22, 2023

Miami Heat are one win way to return to the NBA Finals. As team, Miami Heat demolished Boston Celtics with a barage of 3-points by making 19 of 35, a whopping 54.3% from beyond the arc, and 56.8% from the field.

The Heat have 6 players scoring in double-digits lead by Gabe Vincent scoring 29 points, on a 6 of 9 from the three-point line. Jimmy Butler, Miami’s best player, just scored 16 points with 8 rebounds and 6 assists but had a very big impact in the game. Second leading scorer of the game is Duncan Robinson made 5 of 7 three-points, scoring 22 points. Robinson became the leading 3-pointer of the Heat, with 825 three-pointers made in franchise history.

On the Boston side, the team had one of their worst shooting game with just 11 three-pointers made on 42 attempts and they shot 39.8% from the field. Jason Tatum, their leading scorer, only had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and no other player scored more than 12 points. In the postgame interview, Boston Celtics HC Joe Mazzulla admitted that the loss was on him for his failure to prepare the team for their biggest game of the season.

Mazzulla said “I just didn’t have them ready to play.. I have to get them in a better place to be ready to play, and that’s on me.” You can watch the full video of his postgame interview below;

Just like the Lakers, Celtics are in a similar position, down 0 – 3 and if they want to extend the series, Game 4 in Miami is a must win for them this Tuesday evening.