For the first time in the Eastern Conference finals, the Celtics played like the Celtics.
Boston avoided elimination Tuesday with the kind of performance the team produced consistently during the regular season, routing Miami 116–99 to send the series back to New England. Trailing 3–0, the desperate Celtics shot a blistering 40% from three in Game 4, carving up Miami’s defense. Jayson Tatum responded to his lackluster Game 3 outing with 33 points to lead the way. Five Celtics hit at least three threes, while the team also stifled Miami defensively.
“They got cleaner looks than they did in the [first three games], but that’s who they’ve been all season long,” Erik Spoelstra said postgame. “They are not going to shoot that poorly that many times in a row. They were getting out in transition, which they’ve been trying to do, and they knocked down some threes, got a two-point lead and from that point mostly had control of the second half.”
