SUMMARY
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Jimmy Butler played a solid all-around game with 35 points, 7 assists, 6 steals, and 5 rebounds to lead the Miami Heat to a 123-116 victory over the host Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals on Wednesday night, May 17 (Thursday, May 18, Manila time).
Bam Adebayo recorded 20 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists as the Heat recovered from a 13-point, second-quarter deficit.
Kyle Lowry, Caleb Martin, Max Strus and Gabe Vincent all scored 15 points apiece for Miami.
Jayson Tatum had 30 points and 7 rebounds and Jaylen Brown added 22 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists for Boston.
Malcolm Brogdon scored 19 points, Robert Williams III had 14 points and 7 rebounds and Marcus Smart registered 13 points and 11 assists for the Celtics.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Friday night in Boston.
The Heat led 114-105 after Butler’s basket with 5:33 remaining before the Celtics scored the next five points.
Martin halted a Miami scoring drought of 3:23 by burying a three-pointer to make it 117-110 with 2:10 to go.
Butler then made a triple that went in and out and back in to make it a 10-point game with 1:03 left and the Heat closed it out.
Miami shot 54.1% from the field, including 16-of-31 from three-point range.
Boston made 51.9% of its shots and was 10-of-29 from behind the arc. Derrick White added 11 points for the Celtics.
Miami trailed 66-57 at halftime before outscoring Boston 46-25 in the third quarter to take a 12-point advantage.
The Celtics led 71-59 after Smart’s three-pointer 65 seconds into the period before the Heat’s explosion began.
Miami used a 13-1 burst to tie the score. The Heat later went on an 10-2 push to move ahead 86-80 on a triple by Strus with 4:25 left in the period.
Butler’s three-pointer made it 95-87 with 1:56 left and Strus capped the quarter’s 17-of-26 shooting performance with another trey with 7.6 seconds remaining as Miami took a 103-91 lead into the final stanza.
Boston fought back with the initial seven points of the fourth quarter to move within five but couldn’t catch the Heat.
Tatum scored 18 first-half points. The score was tied at 47 before the Celtics went on a 15-2 run to open up a 13-point lead with 2:08 left in the second quarter.
Butler scored 15 points and Lowry had 13 in the first half for the Heat. – Rappler.com
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