CELTICS PUT HEAT ON ROPES
The Heat’s offense struggled in losing Game 5 to the Boston Celtics at FTX Arena and now trails 3-2 in the Eastern Conference finals. Game 6 is Friday at Boston.
A playoff series between two of the NBA’s top defenses has produced weird results with just four lead changes despite a 2-2 tie through four games. The pivotal Game 5 turned into the competitive defensive slugfest that many envisioned this series would be ... for one half.
Following a first half that the Heat and Boston Celtics combined for just 79 points on 37.8 percent shooting, the Celtics’ offense came alive and the Heat’s offense didn’t.
The Celtics dominated the second half, cruising to a 93-80 win over the Heat on Wednesday night at FTX Arena to take a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Heat is now on the brink of elimination, just one loss away from having its season ended.
The Heat continued to struggle to generate efficient offense against the Celtics’ elite defense, shooting just 31.9 percent from the field and 7 of 45 (15.6 percent) from three-point range. Miami is shooting just 40.7 from the field and 29.2 percent on threes in the series.
The difference was that the Celtics’ offense was able to find secondhalf solutions on Wednesday after shooting just 38.2 percent from the field and 4 of 16 (25 percent) on threes in the first half. Boston shot 54.1 percent in the final two quarters to break the game open.
The Celtics won the third quarter 32-16 to take an 11-point lead into the fourth quarter and then opened the final period on a 14-2 run to pull ahead by 23 and take total control of Game 5.
Celtics stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for 37 points in the second half after totaling just 10 points on 3-of-16 shooting (18.8 percent) from the field in the first half.
The Heat’s leading scorer on Wednesday was center Bam Adebayo, who finished with 18 points on
8-of-15 shooting from the field and 10 rebounds.
But the rest of Miami’s roster struggled to make outside shots as the Celtics continued to have defenders sag into the paint and dare the Heat to beat them with midrange shots and threes. The Heat finished Game 5 just 10 of 52 (19.2 percent) on shots from outside the paint
The Heat’s best player, Jimmy Butler, finished with 13 points on 4-of-18 shooting from the field. He has totaled just 19 points on 7-of-32 (21.9 percent) shooting from the field in the last two games after exiting the second half of Game 3 because of right knee inflammation.
Heat starting point guard Kyle Lowry also looked limited in his third game since returning from a strained left hamstring. Lowry finished Wednesday’s game without a point or assist in 25 minutes.
Despite the Heat’s cold shooting throughout Game 5, it actually entered halftime with a five-point lead behind 16 second-chance points and 12 points off 10 Celtics turnovers. But those opportunities dried up in the second half with Miami scoring eight secondchance points and five points off turnovers in the final two quarters.
With the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Tyler Herro missing his second straight game because of a strained left groin, the Heat made a tweak to its bench rotation and played small when starting center Bam Adebayo wasn’t on the court.
The Heat used Victor Oladipo, Gabe Vincent, Caleb Martin and Duncan Robinson as its four reserves in Game 5. Backup center Dewayne Dedmon did not play after logging minutes in each of the first four games of the series, as 6-5 forward P.J. Tucker played as Miami’s center on Wednesday when Adebayo was on the bench.
But it didn’t matter who the Heat played on Wednesday, just not enough shots went in.
Minutes before Game 5 and just before the starters were introduced, there was a moment of silence at FTX Arena in the wake of Tuesday’s mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. The Heat then urged those in attendance to call their state senators and demand their support for common sense gun laws.
Game 6 is scheduled for Friday (8:30 p.m., ESPN) at TD Garden in Boston.