SUMMARY
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The Miami Heat again turned things around just in time.
Just like in their Game 1 overtime thriller, the Heat rallied to beat the Boston Celtics, 106-101, to take a 2-0 lead in the NBA Eastern Conference finals on Thursday, September 17 (Friday, September 18, Philippine time).
Goran Dragic powered the Heat with a game-high 25 points, including 5 straight points that put the Heat ahead, 100-95, with 1:42 left after a 95-95 deadlock.
Bam Adebayo again came through when he took over in the 3rd quarter where the Heat outscored the Celtics, 37-17, to get back in the game at 84-77 after trailing by as many as 17 points, 43-60, in the first half.
Adebayao – the Game 1 hero who made a clutch block in the dying seconds of the series opener – finished with a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds.
“We came here to these playoffs trying to win a championship,” Adebayo said. “We keep stacking these wins and hopefully we get to that point.
“Right now, 2-0, we’ve got to keep stacking those ‘W’s.”
Duncan Robinson added 18 points, all from beyond the arc, while Jimmy Butler scored 14 for the Heat.
“We like being the comeback kids,” said Butler after the Heat came back from another double-digit deficit.
Kemba Walker broke out of his scoring slump with 23 points, while Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum added 21 each for the Celtics.
‘Not all about you’
The Celtics, who let a big lead slip in a 117-114 Game 1 overtime defeat on Tuesday, regained the lead in the 4th quarter and were up 94-89 with 4:25 left to play.
But the Heat chipped away with a hook shot from Adebayo and a steal and dunk by Butler.
Dragic followed up two free throws with a three-pointer over Boston big man Daniel Theis that put the Heat ahead 100-95 with 1:42 remaining and Miami powered to the finish line.
“We like to make it hard for ourselves,” Butler said.
In fact, the Heat got off to a brisk start making 5 of their first 6 three-point attempts.
After a close 1st quarter the Celtics surged ahead in the 2nd period, only for the Heat to make the needed adjustments at halftime.
“You get to the conference finals, it’s not all about you,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Boston had a lot to say about how that first half was going. That was them putting us on our heels.”
Brown missed a three-pointer that would have tied it with 15.1 seconds to play and 20 Celtics turnovers led to 26 Miami points.
The Heat will try to take a stranglehold on the best-of-seven series in Game 3 on Saturday in the NBA’s quarantine bubble in Orlando.
The Celtics will go into that one knowing that no NBA team has rallied from an 0-3 deficit to win a series.
– Rappler.com
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