Celtics survive furious Heat comeback in Hayward’s return, win 117-106

The Boston Celtics bounced back in a big way with Gordon Hayward’s return sparking a 117-106 win to bring the East Finals series vs. the Heat to 2-1.

The Boston Celtics finally got veteran forward Gordon Hayward back in the fold for a must-win Game 3 meeting with the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals, and almost from the tip you could see an improvement.

Boston didn’t win the tip, but they did strike first, Marcus Smart getting the old-school 3-point play. Bam Adebayo answered back with a quick flush, but Jaylen Brown scored in response as both teams traded blows early.

The Cal-Berkeley product in particular was aggressive in attacking the cup, and an early 3 from Kemba Walker gave Boston a 12-7 lead with 8:30 in the quarter.

The Heat hung around early, but Boston held onto their lead with another Enes Kanter sighting and some good play from Hayward in his first minutes back. A trey from Tatum to close out the half put the Celtics up 31-22.

A trip to the line for Brad Wanamaker got the second frame started, but back-to-back 3s from Tyler Herro cut the lead back down to nine. Another trey from Derrick Jones Jr. saw Miami trailing by just six.

Herro stayed hot, hitting a jumper to set the score at 40-36 while drawing a technical foul from Tatum. A block from Brown on Dragic created a fast-break dunk from Tatum that sent Jae Crowder flying, and a 3 from Brown on the next possession forced a Heat timeout.

An Adebayo dunk out of the break kept the Heat from losing control, and a Butler make at the four-minute mark cut the lead to as many points. The Celtics went centerless as the half wound down, leading to nine straight points from Boston, the score going into the break 62-50.

The penultimate frame began with a 3 from Crowder, but a Brown dunk would give the Celtics a 14-point lead, their largest. A trey from Grant Williams would push it to 15, and a trip to the stripe for Brown to 18.

Boston kept attacking the paint, and the Heat continued to struggle to find an answer, the fouls starting to mount. Miami kept at it, a Dragic jumper cutting the Celtics’ lead to 82-69.

A Herro layup cut it further to nine with a minute to go in the quarter, but Walker answered back on the other end. A Kendrick Nunn foul on a Tatum breakaway dunk pushed the lead back to 16, the Celtics heading into the final frame up 89-74.

Gordon Hayward nailed a 3 to open the fourth quarter, and a deep Tatum stepback pushed the lead to 95-76. The Butler product would be successfully challenged on a blocking call a few plays later by Miami coach Erik Spoelstra.

A Brown make with six minutes to go gave the Celtics ta 19-point lead, and a Walker layup soon after would force a Miami timeout with just under five minutes to play. The Heat cut it to 12 with a Robinson trey at the four-minute mark, but a trey from Walker kept the pressure on.

Boston used the clock late to hang onto their lead with an 11-point lead in the final two minutes, and a Robinson 3 cut the lead to eight. An offensive foul by Brown was upgraded to a flagrant 1 however, sending the Heat to the line to shoot two.

A quick Adebayo make would cut the lead to five, but Smart got right back to the line, converting both. Miami couldn’t find any magic to close out this game however, falling to Boston 117-106 as the series moved to 2-1 Miami.

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