Pinoyliga Daily NBA Recap: Boston Survives Late Miami Run in Game Three

Unlike in their first 11 games of the 2020 National Basketball Association (NBA) playoffs, the Miami Heat didn't look like the dark horse that took out the best team in the NBA in the semifinals. The Heat didn't even look like the same Miami team that won the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals although the Heat came close at erasing a big deficit again in the endgame. Unfortunately, the Celtics' lead was too much to overcome. 

The Boston Celtics used a big second half to pull away from the Miami Heat en route to a 117-106 Game Three victory that prevented Boston from going down 0-3 in the best-of-seven series. Jaylen Brown led Boston with 26 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Jayson Tatum added 25 points, 14 rebounds, and eight assists while Kemba Walker added 21 points.  Marcus Smart had 20 points for Boston whose 20-point lead was cut down to just five points with 55 seconds to go. The Celtics outscored the Heat, 60-36 in the paint that compensated for their 34% shooting from the three-point line. 

Gordon Hayward made his return from his injury as he scored six points off the bench.

Bam Adebayo led Miami with 27 points, 16 rebounds, three steals, and two blocks. Tyler Herro scored 22 points off the bench. Jimmy Butler added 17 points while Duncan Robinson followed suit with 13 points. Goran Dragic was limited to 11 points after scoring 20+ points in each of the first two games of the series.  Jae Crowder scored 10 points on two for 10 shooting from the three-point line. The Celtics' defense limited Miami to 38% field goal shooting including 27% shooting from downtown. 

Photo is from CelticsBlog