The Boston Celtics’ determination to avoid the humiliation of a “sweep” was as strong as ever. The Celtics pulled off the upset in a must-win game to avoid elimination.
The Celtics defeated the Miami Heat 116-99, a 17-point blowout, in Game 4 of the 2022-2023 National Basketball Association (NBA) Eastern 토토사이트 Conference Finals (best-of-seven) on Thursday at the Amway Center in Miami, Florida, USA. After dropping Games 1 and 2 at home and Game 3 on the road, the Heat were on the brink of elimination, but Boston pulled away from the brink and turned things around. Game 5 will be played at Boston’s home TD Garden on April 26.
Meanwhile, Miami, which entered the playoffs as the No. 8 seed through the play-in tournament and advanced to the finals by defeating the No. 1 overall seed Milwaukee Bucks in the first round and the No. 5 seed New York Knicks in the second round, will have to wait for the second No. 8 seed in history to reach the championship game.
However, history still favors the Heat. Never before in NBA history has a team won the first three games of a playoff series only to allow an upset.
Boston, which finished runner-up to the Golden State Warriors in last season’s championship game, entered this season’s playoffs in second place in the Eastern Conference and was considered a heavy favorite. However, the Celtics took the seventh-seeded Atlanta Hawks to seven games in the first round, and then faced the third-seeded Philadelphia 76ers in the second round, which also went to seven games.
Boston was clearly outmatched in terms of physicality, but they still managed to bruise their pride by dropping Games 1-3. They had to be extra determined for Game 4.
Boston’s ace Jayson Tatum led the charge. After being held to 14 points in Game 3, Tatum rescued his team with an all-around performance of 33 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists, including four three-pointers, especially in the decisive third quarter. Outside of Tatum, it was an evenly matched performance across the board with all four starters scoring in double figures.
Trailing 50-56 at halftime, Boston finished the third quarter with an 88-79 lead behind Tatum’s performance and carried that momentum into the fourth quarter, where they overwhelmed Miami. Miami was led by Jimmy Butler’s 29-point, 9-rebound performance, but was overshadowed by the loss.
