Array
The Celtics‘ Eastern Conference Finals showdown against the Heat isn’t quite done yet.
Facing elimination for the third time in the postseason, the Celtics improved to 3-0 — albeit trimming their deficit against the Heat to just 3-1 — with a 116-99 victory that sent the series back to Boston.
Here are the takeaways.
1. We will get to all the good things the Celtics did, and there were a great number of them.
But before we do, the state of the series requires us to bring up the context once again: Can you imagine if the Celtics had taken care of business once, just once, before this? The Celtics are fully capable of beating the Heat. We knew it. The Celtics knew it. The Heat presumably knew it, despite the confidence that was visibly dripping from their every pore in the first three games.
And still, the Heat built a 3-0 lead that made Tuesday’s victory much less notable. If the Celtics hadn’t handed the ball to Butler three times in the fourth quarter of Game 1, the series is tied heading back to Boston, and the Celtics have home-court advantage once again.
That’s what losing both games at home costs you. That’s what completely letting go of the rope in Game 3 costs you. The Celtics should be favored in this series after their Game 4 victory, not facing a historic uphill battle that necessitates all of this couching.
Game 4 should have been — at worst — the moment the Celtics re-took control of the series. Instead, it’s the first step of a climb up a hill no NBA team has ever managed to scale.
2. Maybe the good news for the Celtics is that they now get an unlimited number of elimination games from Jayson Tatum.
After scoring 51 to ward off the 76ers in Game 7, Tatum dropped 34 including 11 rebounds and seven assists facing elimination in Miami.
