SCINTILLATING play by Jimmy Butler and consistent performances by Bam Adebayo have carried the eighth-seeded Miami Heat on their Cinderella run through the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Butler and Adebayo were not alone in Miami’s most recent outing, however.
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After receiving a significant boost from an undrafted quartet of players, the Heat look to punch their ticket to their second NBA finals appearance in four seasons on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) when they host the Boston Celtics.
A resounding 128-102 victory on Sunday gave Miami a commanding 3-0 series lead over second-seeded Boston in the Eastern Conference final.
In NBA circles, a 3-0 deficit is akin to a death knell for the trailing club. No team in league history has overcome such a deficit to win a series.
“It’s the first to four games. We’re not satisfied with three,” said Gabe Vincent, who led all scorers in Game 3 with a career-high 29 points on 11-for-14 shooting from the floor and 6-of-9 from 3-point range.
Vincent and fellow undrafted players Duncan Robinson (22), Caleb Martin (18) and Max Strus (10) combined to score 79 points to allow Butler and Adebayo to essentially kick up their heels.
“We were able to put the game on our terms,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said after his team shot a blistering 56.8 percent from the field (46 of 81) and 54.3 percent from 3-point range (19 of 35). “(With Tyler Herro and Victor Oladipo out injured) we need Gabe’s assertiveness. It can’t just be Jimmy and Bam. You need a lot of guys contributing.”
“To their credit, they’re playing well above their means,” Celtics guard Jaylen Brown said.
“They’re ballin’ right now, and I’ve got to give them respect. Gabe Vincent, Martin, Strus, Duncan Robinson, guys that we should be able to keep under control are playing their (expletive) off.”
On the flip side, Boston’s celebrated duo of Jayson Tatum and Brown combined to make just 12 of 35 shots from the floor and 1 of 14 from 3-point range. Brown, in fact, is just 2-for-20 from beyond the arc in the series.
As a team, the Celtics are shooting themselves in the foot from 3-point range (31-for-106, 29.2 percent), while the Heat are shooting the lights out (44-for-92, 47.8 percent) from beyond the arc. — Field Level Media
