Three minutes later, everything looked different.
Jayson Tatum had 33 points and 11 rebounds, Jaylen Brown added 17 points and the Celtics staved off elimination in the Eastern Conference finals by running away in the second half to beat the Miami Heat 116-99 in Game 4 on Tuesday night (Wednesday morning, May 24, 2023, PH time).
“We were just trying to save our season,” Tatum said.
They most definitely found a way to do that. The two big differences: a 30-point edge for the Celtics on 3-pointers, and an 18-0 run in that three-minute, third-quarter spurt that changed the game and — they hope — might end up changing the series.
“We can’t relax,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “We have to keep the same level of intensity, the same mindset, the same focus in the next game.”
No team in NBA history has ever successfully rallied from a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series; 150 have tried, 150 have failed.
But the Celtics gave themselves hope.
“We don’t really have a choice,” Mazzulla said. “It’s do-or-die. Got to stick together.” (AP)