LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — If Brad Stevens had his druthers, he’d never be recorded on mic during a playoff game.
When a reporter asked the Boston coach about a third-quarter moment, when he grabbed a clipboard during the Celtics’ avalanche of 41 points in that period — “that’s what hard playing does right there!” — he slumped his shoulders.
“I hate those things,” he said.
But at least a moment of perhaps the best quarter the Celtics have played in the Eastern Conference Finals was captured for posterity, and neither Stevens nor his team will likely want to forget it. It was the turning point of a 121-108 Game 5 victory that kept Boston’s Finals hopes alive and edged the series closer with a 3-2 Miami lead.
It’s the second time the Heat have blinked with a closeout opportunity, needing an extra game to top Milwaukee in the second round. But that had a lot to do with Boston’s toughness, which complimented a combined 59 points from Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Noting that the Celtics’ first team practice was a year ago Saturday, Stevens said that Boston was “prideful,” and after everything they’ve sacrificed, they couldn’t see themselves going down in back-to-back losses.
“Our deal was to come out and play,” he said, “come out and compete, give it our best shot.”
The Heat had a seven-point lead at halftime, but the Celtics scored 70 after intermission, including 30 in the paint. After Miami took a 2-0 lead in the series, the balance has swung a little more toward Boston in the last three games in part because of the Celtics’ willingness to attack.
“After the first quarter, I think they only had four, six points in the paint,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, “and it was a deluge to the rim after that.”
If the series in the Western Conference have been roller coasters, the Eastern Conference has hosted streetfights between some of the league’s most cohesive defenses. No team has played it closer than the Celtics, who have seen six of their last 13 games decided by three points or fewer.
But this one was no nail-biter: The Heat more or less saw any comeback hopes snuffed by a devastating sixth and final foul called on Goran Dragic (23 points), who was whistled on a drive when his knee struck Daniel Theis in the groin with 4:27 remaining. After the play was upheld on review, it ignited a 6-0 Celtics run that put the game on ice.
After Game 2 when the team had a locker room blowout that spilled into the tunnel at AdventHealth Arena, they’ve found more cohesiveness. Teams not named the Denver Nuggets have struggled in elimination games, in part because the NBA bubble is already a difficult grind.
The Celtics didn’t think motivation was a problem: They felt they started the game with too much anxiety and wound up forcing plays.
“I think we all realized it: Everybody was so anxious, eager to make a play, make something happen,” Tatum said. “We know what’s at stake: we lose, we go home. At the same time we got to relax a little bit, take a deep breath. We know how important every possession is, but we still just got to relax and play the game.”Six Miami players scored in double figures, led by Dragic. Duncan Robinson had 20, while Jimmy Butler had 17.
The Celtics are still in the hunt for their 22nd Finals appearance and 18th NBA championship, which would put them just a little further from the Lakers’ grasp in the all-time title chase history. The Heat are looking to return to the Finals for the first time since 2014, when LeBron James took them there, and hope to add a fourth banner to their collection.
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