Celtics players cheer from the bench during the second half of their 116-99 win over the Heat in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Tuesday in Miami. Rebecca Blackwell/Associated Press
MIAMI — Jayson Tatum had 34 points and 11 rebounds, Derrick White and Jaylen Brown each added 16 points and the Boston 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.
Grant Williams scored 14, Al Horford added 12 and Marcus Smart scored 11 for the Celtics, who still trail the series 3-1 – but sent it back to Boston for a Game 5 on Thursday.
Jimmy Butler scored 29 for Miami, which led by nine in the second half before getting outscored 48-22 in a 14-minute stretch that turned the game – and perhaps the series – completely around. Boston would also have Game 7 on its floor as well if it can keep extending this series.
Gabe Vincent scored 17 for Miami, Caleb Martin had 16 and Bam Adebayo added 10. The Heat shot 8 for 32 on 3-pointers, while Boston was 19 for 45 – a massive 33-point difference in scoring from beyond the arc.
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 were just trying to save our season,” Tatum said.
Celtics forward Jayson Tatum drives to the basket over Heat forward Jimmy Butler. Tatum had 34 points and 11 rebounds as Boston staved off eliminiation. Rebecca Blackwell/Associated Press
The Heat led by as many as nine points in the opening quarter, kept the lead for the majority of the first half and were up by nine again when Max Strus connected on a 3-pointer early in the third quarter.
Boston’s season was officially on the brink.
And the Celtics responded – most emphatically.
An 18-0 run took Boston from down nine to up nine, a huge turnaround that took only three minutes. The Celtics were 6 of 7 from the floor during the run, 4 of 4 from 3-point range, Tatum had nine of the 18 points and just like that the defending East champions – who won three playoff games on Miami’s home floor in last year’s playoffs – were rolling again.
Miami got within four late in the third, only to see another lightning-fast spurt by the Celtics – this time, seven unanswered points in 40 seconds. Boston’s edge was 88-79 going into the fourth, after winning the third quarter 38-23, with 21 of those points coming on 3-pointers.
The Celtics kept the lead the rest of the way.
TIP-INS
Celtics: Tatum’s second 3-pointer of the night was the 220th of his postseason career, passing Paul Pierce for the most in Celtics playoff history. … Boston’s last four-game losing streak was in May 2021, late in the 2020-21 regular season. … Tatum’s jumper with 9:22 left put Boston up seven, stopped a Heat spurt – and was his first fourth-quarter field goal of the series.
Heat: Vincent left early in the fourth quarter after turning his left ankle. … Miami was bidding for its first five-game winning streak of the season – not the postseason, the whole season. Its longest win streak of the regular season was four games, back in December.
HERRO UPDATE
Heat guard Tyler Herro, who broke his right hand in Game 1 of Round 1 at Milwaukee, has his brace off and is resuming workouts. “He is starting the process,” Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra said. “There’s no timetable. But he does have the brace off and he’s able to do ballhandling and some shooting.”
CELEB WATCH
Among the celebrities in the crowd: PGA champion Brooks Koepka (who also was at the Florida Panthers’ win in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference finals series against Carolina on Tuesday night), NBA superfan Jimmy Goldstein, former New York Yankees teammates Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, and actor Jeremy Piven.
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