Aurélien CANOT, Media365, published on Friday May 20, 2022 at 08:20
Beaten in Florida in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Boston tied the game at 1-1 by clearly winning (127-102) Thursday night on the Miami floor in Game 2. The Celtics thus recover the home field advantage before hosting the Heat on Saturday in Massachusetts.
The Celtics were expected at the turn. They responded tit for tat. Dominated in the first game of the Eastern Conference final by Miami on the floor of the Heat (118-107), two days earlier, Boston immediately set the record straight, Thursday night still in Florida during the second meeting of the series by pulverizing at home (127-102) the regular season leader in the East. Very skilful from long distance (20 out of 40 on three-point shots) and as if transfigured by the returns of Marcus Smart and Al Horford, who had been sorely missed by the C’s in Game 1, the men of Massachusetts showed a completely different face on Thursday evening. Probably their real face. Miami had certainly started the match better than the Greens, but the reaction of the visitors was not long in coming. Above all, she turned out to be dazzling.
The so precious Smart
Carried by his two best scorers Jayson Tatum (27 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists) and Jaylen Brown (24 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists) but also by one of the great absentees from match 1 Smart, also author of 24 points but especially 12 assists out of the 28 of his team in this part, Boston stuck a 27-6 entry to the Heat. At the break, the gap was already 25 points (70-45). He reached a 34-point lead for the Celtics for a while, who were able to calmly unfold at the end of the game and take advantage of this huge slap administered to Jimmy Butler (29 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists) and his teammates in their room to recover the advantage of the field at the dawn of game 3, Saturday in Boston. Almost unimaginable after the first encounter.
BASKET – NBA / PLAY-OFFS 2022
Finales
Eastern Conference
MIAMI HEAT (1) – BOSTON CELTICS (2) : 1-1
Match 1 – Miami Heat – Boston Celtics : 118-107
Match 2 – Miami Heat – Boston Celtics : 102-127
Game 3 on Saturday May 21 in Boston
Game 4 on Monday, May 23 in Boston
Game 5 (if necessary) on Wednesday May 25 in Miami
Game 6 (if necessary) Friday, May 27 in Boston
Game 7 (if necessary) on Sunday May 29 in Miami