2023 East Finals: Boston Celtics rally to beat Heat in Game 5 to make series 3-2

A 17-5 run by the Boston Celtics in the first quarter set the tone early for the Game 5 as they beat the Miami Heat 110-97to make the seven-game Eastern Conference Finals series 3-2. It was Jayson Taum's 12 points in the 1Q which lead the Celtics early on as they forced Game 6 after being 0-3 down.

It was, however, a team effort from the Celtics with four players going past 20 points to hand the Heat a proper beating at TD Garden. Derrick White and Marcus Smart of the Boston Celtics also deserve a special mention as they went 6-for-8 and 4-for-6, respectively while attempting three-pointers.

Celtics blow out Heat in 1Q

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Boston knew they had to start fast in the game and so they did with a 17-5 run inspired by Tatum's 12 points in the quarter. The Heat didn't have any answers to the blitzkrieg by the Celtics as they trailed by 15 points at the end of the quarter. The period was skillfully closed by Derrick White's buzzer-beater three after Marcus Smart drained two and Tatum bucketed one earlier in the quarter. The Heat could score only 20 against Boston's 35.

Miami keeps up in 2Q but Boston runs away

The Heat seemed to have picked up the pace in the second quarter but Boston once again made a 12-3 run to outscore Miami 26-24. Tatum, who had scored 12 points in the 1Q, couldn't score a single point in 2Q but Jaylen Brown stood up tall and so did Marcus Smart. Both the players had 17 and 15 points, respectively at the half-time as Boston lead by 17 points with box score reading 61-44 in the Celtics' favour.

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First quarter haunts Miami

The Heat kept up with the scoring in 3Q but the deficit they had gotten in the first quarter haunted them. Miami scored 28 against The Celtics 28 but this meant that Boston's lead grew by one more point and stood at 18 by the end of 3Q. The box score read 90-72 in Boston;s favour which looked all but sure to push the series to sixth game after trailing 0-3.

Just the formality in final quarter

Boston had too much of a lead going into the final quarter and they knew it. Both, Boston and Miami went easy in the final 12 minutes, scoring 17 and 16 points, respectively. The Heat never looked easy after that 1st quarter and the Celtics just pounded their way to Game 6.

Top scorers of Game 5

For the Boston Celtics, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum scored 21 points each while Derrick White and Marcus Smart scored 24 and 23 points, respectively.

For the Miami Heat, five players scored in 10s but it wasn't enough to match the high-flying Celtics. Duncan Robinson top scored for them with 18, Bam Adebayo scored second-best 16 and Haywood Highsmith came third with 15 points. Apart from them, Jimmy Butler and Caleb Martin, both scored 14 points each.

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