The Heat just absolutely punked the Celtics in in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals, but it wasn’t a 48-minute beatdown like it might seem by the final score. Boston even had an early 12-9 lead, but 16-14 was their final lead in the game before Miami outscored them 114-86 over the final 43 minutes.
NBA Scores: Celtics left searching for answers after the Heat’s Game 3 rout
Miami had four different players score at least 15 while Boston had none
Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for 13 of those first 16 points for Boston, but they didn’t have much gas in the tank beyond that with Tatum scoring just nine more and Brown adding only four more over the rest of the game. That’s just not going to cut it when Heat players like Duncan Robinson are erupting for 10 points in the second quarter alone.
Even despite the pedestrian start, Miami won each of the first three quarters by a combined 30 points, thanks to the contributions of Robinson as well as Gabe Vincent, who finished the night with a career-high — regular or postseason — 29 points on elite efficiency, 11-14 FG.
Jimmy Butler was still at the center of it all despite having his lowest scoring output of this postseason, 16 points on a below-par 5-13 FG. He also finished with eight rebounds (third time in last four games) as well as six assists (fifth time in last six) with two steals and a lot of his usual gravitas.
Brown, who finished with just 12 points (shooting 2-20 3P over the series after 0-7 in this game) and a game-worst -25, didn’t have a lot of answers after the game, appearing to keep his thoughts to himself:
Vincent, appearing on Inside the NBA after the game, talked about how these series are first to four, not first to three, even though no team has ever come back from down 0-3. He and the Heat will look to end the Celtics’ season and earn some much-needed rest before the Finals when game 4 tips at 8:30 on Tuesday.
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