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Marcus Smart and the Boston Celtics emphatically played their best game of the Eastern Conference finals to beat the Miami Heat 116-99 in Game 4. Boston lived to play another game after cutting Miami’s series lead to 3-1.
Last year’s Defensive Player of the Year winner emphasized Boston’s game-by-game approach after breaking through in the series:
“It’s all that matters. It’s one game. We get to play in front of our home crowd. They did a good job of taking a nice lead in this series. We did a good job of responding and now we gotta do it again. All that matters is the next game.”
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The Boston Celtics were down by nine points early in the third quarter while the Miami Heat crowd was rocking the arena. Unlike in Game 3 where they folded, the C's emphatically responded by dropping an 18-0 burst to lead by nine points themselves.
Marcus Smart consistently pushed the pace of the game to create more opportunities for the Celtics. All-Star forward Jayson Tatum scored nine of Boston’s 18-point rally and took over the second half.
Tatum had 25 points after the halftime break and was responsible for 40 of his team’s 66 points in the third and fourth quarters.
Smart, Derrick White and Robert Williams also showed their best defensive effort in the win-or-go-home battle. After Gabe Vincent and Duncan Robinson scorched the Celtics from the outside in Game 3, Smart and White largely kept them in check.
Vincent had 17 points but was 1-5 from deep while Robinson missed all four of his triples. White’s block on a Robinson 3-pointer turned into a Jaylen Brown highlight dunk. It was a deflating sequence that sustained the Celtics’ dominance in the second half.
Marcus Smart and the Boston Celtics know TD Garden is not a completely safe zone for them in the playoffs. They have already lost five times there, including Games 1 and 2 to the Miami Heat. Boston can’t afford to lose focus and relax at home.
The Boston Celtics’ 3-point shot finally came through
The Boston Celtics, who shot 37.7% from deep in the regular season, couldn’t get going in the series against the Miami Heat. They were only 29.8% in Games 1-3.
Marcus Smart was one of those who badly struggled, shooting just 22.2% from 3-point distance.
In Game 4, Boston’s triples finally hit average. The Celtics were 18-45 from long-range for 40%. Their 3-point defense also hummed as they limited the Heat to 8-32 for only 25.%.
The Heat obliterated the Boston Celtics from behind the arc in the first three games of the series. They averaged 47.7%, which was the best in the entire playoffs after putting up only 34.4% in the regular season.
Notably, the team that shoots better 3-pointers has won every game in this series. Boston has had a tough time of late at the TD Garden but will hope they can sustain their shooting touch.
No team has bounced back from a 3-0 hole. Marcus Smart and the Boston Celtics have no choice but to try to become the first team to accomplish such a feat. Game 5 on Thursday will be their biggest game of the season so far.
