Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown both scored 22 points each as the Boston Celtics totally dominated the Miami Heat in a 104-84 blowout victory at Kaseya Center on Saturday in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.
Tatum also had 11 rebounds with six dimes, while Brown had eight rebounds and three assists as Boston immediately bounced back from their Game 2 slump to lead the series 2-1 and take back homecourt advantage.
The Celtics were dominant off the block as they led from start to finish in an offensive and defensive that summed up why they finished the regular season with the league’s best record as they led by as much as 24 points heading into halftime.
Miami shot over 50 percent from the 3-point line in Game 2, but the Celtics kept them to 32.1% on Saturday. Boston outrebounded them 43-36, leading by one in offensive rebounding (10-9) and six in defensive quarters (33-27). They also scored more points in the paint (42–34) and forced Miami to commit 12 turnovers.
“We didn’t make too many adjustments,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “We played a little bit harder; we played harder and we dictated the physicality and the tempo of the game. It’s the simple things that you have to do under a high level of stress, high level of adversity. I thought our guys did a great job of dictating that tonight.”
Kristaps Porzingis, who was quiet in Game 2, had a solid Game 3 with 18 points, five rebounds, and two blocks. Derrick White finished with 16 points and five rebounds, as Boston had four of its five starters in double figures.
Game 3 ✅ pic.twitter.com/K5UY3AwDNT
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 28, 2024
Meanwhile, Bam Adebayo continued to have a strong postseason as he led the Heat, who are still missing Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier, with 20 points and nine rebounds. The Star of Miami’s winner from the previous game, Tyler Herro, was kept to 15 points as well as 3-of-9 from 3s; Nikola Jovic also had 15 points, while rookie Jamie Jaquez Jr. had 12 points.
“They took us out of stuff we would like to get to,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “They were the more physical team. They bodied us, bullied us on screens, got through stuff, distorted screens, everything. … You have to credit them for that. They were the more physical team, the team with more physicality and force on both ends of the court.”
With the series currently in favor of the top-seeded Celtics, the expectation for Game 4 would be high, as Miami would be hoping to get the win on homecourt to even the series before heading back to Boston on Monday night.
