After trailing by 17 at one point, the Miami Heat used a massive third-quarter rally to take the lead and were able to outlast the Boston Celtics 106-101 and take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.
Goran Dragić scored 25 points for the winners, and Bam Adebayo pumped in 21 to put the Heat two wins away from advancing to the NBA Finals. Jimmy Butler (14 points) didn’t have a great game shooting the ball, but made a number of key defensive plays down the stretch to help Miami take and hold onto the lead in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter.
“We like to make it hard on ourselves,” Butler said. “We like being down double-digits and being the comeback kids.”
Kemba Walker had 23 points for Boston, and Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum chipped in 21 points apiece. This is the second straight game the Celtics, who were heard arguing in their locker room after the game, have blown a double-digit lead and lost.
“We’re frustrated. But that’s team sports,” Tatum said. “Not supposed to be happy we’re down 0-2. But that’s nothing out of the ordinary. Just talking about the game. It’s cool.”
The Heat are 16-0 when leading a series 2-0 (including 10-0 under current coach Erik Spoelstra). The Celtics are 2-15 when trailing 2-0 in a series, with their two comebacks coming in the first round in 2017 and the 1969 NBA Finals. Game 3 is Saturday night.
The Western Conference finals begin tonight with the Lakers taking on the Nuggets.
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