Playoffs Round 1: Celtics wrest back control with crushing Game 3 win over Heat
Celtics' Jason Tatum starred with 22 points in G3 (Source: @celtics)
The Boston Celtics wrested back their control as the number one seed team in the Eastern Conference with the crushing Game 3 win against the Miami Heat on Saturday (Apr 28) in first round of playoffs. The Celts are the series favourites and rightly so, winning 14 games more than the second-placed New York Knicks in the regular season.
With a 114-94 win in Game 1 of the playoffs, the Celtics looked all but sure to sail through the second round before an abrasion hit them. The Heat, last year's NBA finalists, beat them in the second game 111-101. The loss came as a wake-up call to the Celts who had surrendered 23 3-pointes in Game 2.
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After the loss, they were challenged by coach Joe Mazzulla to play more physically defensive and the impact was there to see. Speaking after the win, Celtics star Jayson Tatum, who scored 22 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists, said: "Everybody knows how talented we are. But can we be the tougher, harder-playing team?"
"If we can combine that with the talent, it's going to be hard to beat us. Can we start off every game, essentially, punching first instead of reacting? That's a test we have to be up for every single night," he added.
The Celtics didn't let the Heat catch their breath throughout the game as visible in the quarterly score. Miami could score only 12 in Q1 against Boston's 21. The Celtics went even higher in Q2, scoring 42 and allowing just 27 in return.
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The second half saw the Heat trying to make a comeback but they were effectively shut down by the Celtics with scores (Celtics-heat) of 24-22 and 17-23 in Q3 and Q4, respectively.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra also agreed that the Celtics were 'more physical team' and said: "They bodied us [and] bullied us."
The fourth game of the seven-match series will be played on Monday (Apr 29).
