Miami Heat continues to break the forecasts. Jimmy Butler, the player who transforms into the playoffs, has guided his team to victory in the first game of the Eastern Conference final, which is played to the best of seven. Seconded by Adebayo, but with a great game from the whole team, the Milwaukee Bucks executioners seek revenge for last year’s East final, which they lost in the last game against the Celtics.
Miami’s triumph has been possible thanks to an impressive third quarter, in which the Miami team has shot from the line of three time and time again with success. That 46-25 run in the third quarter has served to turn the score around and achieve an irretrievable advantage until the end of the game (116-123). Thanks to that third quarter, in the game as a whole Miami has achieved an impressive 51% success rate on three-point shots: 16 hits out of 31 attempts. A full blown bombardment.
Jimmy play off Butler has closed the game with 35 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 6 steals. It is his fifth game with 30 points or more from these playoffs. Adebayo has contributed 20 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. But Miami has played as a block and there have been four other players who have each added 15 points: Gabe Vincent, Max Strus, Caleb Martin and Kyle Lowry.
For the Celtics, Jayson Tatum has scored 30 points that taste little after his exhibition on Sunday, especially due to his drought in the fourth quarter, in which he committed passes or doubles on more than one occasion during key possessions. Jaylen Brown has had 22 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists. The best sixth man in the league, Malcolm Brogdon, has added 19, but overall the Celtics have had much lower shooting percentages, especially on 3-pointers.
The first quarter was very even and ended with a 30-28 local victory. The Celtics seemed willing to impose their rule in the second quarter, in which they won 36-29, leaving at halftime with a 9-point lead. But in the second half of the game, not only did they slow down their scoring pace (25 points in each quarter) but they found themselves with that third-quarter scoring festival for Miami.
The Heat were very irregular, with their 46 points in the third quarter and only 20 in the last, but that was enough for them to win. With that win, they regain home field advantage. Game 2 is played this Friday, again in Boston, before the tie travels to Miami on Sunday and Tuesday.
Miami was the eighth team from the Eastern Conference in the regular season. He qualified for the playoffs at the last moment, but then surprised Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Milwaukee Bucks, favorites for the title, and eliminated them in the first round. Then he gave a relatively comfortable account of the New York Knicks. Now he’s trying to get revenge for the conference finals he lost last year. In case of winning it, the winner of the tie between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets will face the ring, in which the latter have won the first game.
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