Jimmy Butler’s stellar play and Bam Adebayo’s consistent performance has earned the eighth seed Miami Heat On Their Cinderella Run Through The Eastern Conference Playoffs
However, Butler and Adebayo weren’t the only ones in Miami’s most recent outing.
After receiving a significant boost from an unheralded quartet of players, Heat will want to seal their ticket to the second NBA Finals of four seasons on Tuesday when they host Boston Celtics
A dominating 128-102 win on Sunday gave Miami a 3-0 series lead over second-seeded Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals.
In NBA circles, a 3-0 deficit is akin to the death knell for a trailing club. No team in the history of the league has overcome such a deficit to win the series.
“It’s four games already. We’re not satisfied with three,” said Gabe Vincent, who led all scorers on Sunday with a career-high 29 shots on 11-for-14 shooting from the floor and 6-of-9. Scored points. 3-point range.
Vincent and fellow undrafted players Duncan Robinson (22), Caleb Martin (18) and Max Strauss (10) combined for 79 points and allowed Butler and Adebayo to essentially kick up their heels.
“We were able to keep the game on our terms,” Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra said his team shot a blistering 56.8 percent from the field (46 of 81) and 54.3 percent from 3-point range (19 of 35). “(With injuries to Tyler Herro and Victor Oladipo) we need Gabe’s assertiveness. It can’t just be Jimmy and bam. You need contributions from a lot of people.
“To their credit, they are playing well above their means,” Celtics guard Jaylen Brown said. “They’re speaking up now, and I have to give them respect. Gabe Vincent, Martin, Strauss, Duncan Robinson, guys we should be able to keep under control, they’re playing their (offensive).
On the other hand, Boston’s iconic duo of Jayson Tatum and Brown made only 12 of 35 shots from the floor and 1 of 14 from 3-point range on Sunday. Brown, in fact, is just 2-for-20 from beyond the arc in the series.
as a team, Celtics shooting himself in the foot from 3-point range (31-for-106, 29.2 percent), while Heat Lighting the lights out from outside the arc (44-for-92, 47.8 percent).
Still, Boston’s most ardent fans will remember the time the 2004 Red Sox overcame a 3–0 series deficit to shut out the rival New York Yankees on their way to winning the World Series. So, anything is possible.
“We’re not out yet,” said Al Horford. “It’s 3-0. I know what it looks like.
“(But) we’re not out yet. We’re still kicking. One of four teams that are still kicking.”
Miami’s Kevin Love collected five quick points and two rebounds before being ruled out of Sunday’s game with an apparent ankle injury. Spoelstra told reporters that the 34-year-old Love “says he is fine” despite his failure to return to the game.
“He said he probably could have gone in the second half, but we just wanted to re-evaluate,” Spoelstra said. “We were 15, and I was like, ‘Okay, let’s just make sure we know what’s up.’
– Field Level Media