Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown each scored 22 points as the top-seeded Boston Celtics defeated the eighth-seeded Miami Heat in Game 3 of the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs on Saturday. resulting in a 104-84 road victory.
Tatum added 11 rebounds and six assists for the Celtics, who led 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.
The Celtics never trailed, building a lead of as many as 29 points. Boston held Miami to 12 points in the first quarter, but exploded for 42 points in the second. The Seeds committed just five turnovers.
It was a great performance for Boston, but they lost 111-101 at home to the Jimmy Butler-less Heat in Game 2. All five of Miami's starters scored 11 points or more in that game (led by Tyler Herro's 24 points), and both Tatum and Brown combined for 11 or more points. They scored 61 points, but otherwise didn't have enough help offensively.
Boston's defense was much better this time around, and the Celtics also had some production offensively, led by Kristaps Porzisis (18 points, 3-point shooting trio) and Derrick White (16 points).
Miami clearly felt the absence of Butler, who remains sidelined with a sprained right MCL suffered during the play-in tournament. Bam Adebayo led Miami with 20 points, while Nikola Jovic and Tyler Herro each had 15 points.
Ultimately, the Celtics got back on track after a disastrous Game 2 loss, winning an NBA-paced 64 games and looking much more like the team that beat Miami 114-94 in Game 1.
Game 4 will be played in Miami on Monday, and the series will return to Boston for Game 5 on Wednesday.
