The Boston Celtics exerted their superiority over the short-handed Miami Heat with a convincing 118-84 win at TD Garden in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference playoff first-round series on Wednesday night.
Celtics guard Derrick White was the star of the show again, picking up from where he left off in Game 4 to propel the 17-time champions to a 4-1 series win as they progressed to the East semifinals and sent Miami out of the playoffs.
ON TO THE NEXT ONE ☘️☘️ pic.twitter.com/IQ0hZ72bmm
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) May 2, 2024
White, who scored a playoff career-high 38 points in the previous game, finished with 25 points, five rebounds, and five 3-pointers while shooting 8-of-13 from the field as Boston held the Heat to 84 points for the second game in the series.
Jaylen Brown, who also had 25 points, added six rebounds; Sam Hauser, who was red hot off the bench, added 17 points and five rebounds as well as going 5-of-8 from downtown; and Jayson Tatum, who only attempted nine field goals, had 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Boston, which was without starting center Kristaps Porzingis due to a sprained right calf injury, shot over 50% from the field and 40% on threes. However, it was their defense that got them the much-deserved win, as they kept the Heat to 10.3% from 3-pointers.
The Celtics looked in the mood right from the jump, winning the first quarter by an 18-point margin, and by the end of the fourth, the margin was as big as 34 points in a game they never trailed in.
They outrebounded Miami by almost double, 56-29, grabbing six more offensive rebounds, which provided them with eleven second-chance points as they kept the visitors to zero.
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla praised his side after the win, which saw them revenge last season’s Eastern Conference Final defeat to the Heat.
“The consistency, the physicality, we played with real speed on the offensive end,” he said. “I really liked the intentionality on both ends.”
ROUND ONE DONE ✅✅✅✅#DifferentHere pic.twitter.com/x9UZaO7zow
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) May 2, 2024
Bam Adebayo, who has been at the forefront of the Heat’s offense in the series, finished with a team-high 23 points and six assists. Tyler Herro added 15 points and was 1-of-8 from beyond the arc, while Caleb Martin and Thomas Bryant finished with ten points each.
The top-seeded Celtics, who have homecourt advantage throughout the postseason, will wait for their East semi-finals opponent between the winner of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic series.
