The Boston Celtics impressively lived up to their position as favorites in game two of the Eastern Finals series against the Miami Heat. Now it is 1:1.
Crowd under the basket in the second duel heat vs. Celtics in Miami.
IMAGO/ZUMA Wire
Record champions Boston Celtics have recovered well from the sensitive defeat at the start against the Miami Heat and equalized in the second game. Jayson Tatum & Co. clearly won 127-102 on South Beach and are now heading home full of confidence, where games three and four will be played.
Eastern Conference, Finals
Two days after the 107-118 start, when the Celtics went down 14-39 in the third quarter and never recovered, the team was in control of most of the second game. From the second quarter on, Boston had a lead of at least ten points and temporarily increased the buffer to up to 34 points in the last quarter.
Smart and Horford are doing well
The Celtics benefited from the return of their regular players Marcus Smart and Al Horford, who were injured or missed the game on Tuesday evening due to a positive corona test. Smart had 24 points, twelve assists and nine rebounds and, like Horford, also helped with a block. “I felt bad that I couldn’t be there for my comrades and go into battle with them, but I needed to regenerate,” Smart said on US television. “We know what it takes. It will take everything.” Jayson Tatum had 27 points for the Celtics while Jaylen Brown had 24.
The best pitcher of the game was Heat protagonist Jimmy Butler with 29 points. Daniel Theis only came onto the floor for the Celtics in the middle of the last quarter and booked a dunk in six minutes.