After Miami's 116-99 loss to Boston in Game-4 of the East Finals, Jimmy Butler was asked how his team would respond in Game-5 in Boston. He mentioned "going back to our habits". Well, what got the Celtics the win in Game-4 was getting away from some of their bad habits fans have witnessed of late.
Boston was intense from the start and their defense forced Miami into 15 turnovers for the game - and kept their own total to 10 miscues. The Celtics also got into their passing game, "outassisting" their opponent 28-to-18.
In this contest, Boston continued to throw up a lot of treys (45 of them) , but they were falling (40% on 3-pointers). But The Green decided to play tough "D, resulting in eight (8) steals and eight (8) blocks, to Miami's 5-and-2, respectively. And it didn't hurt that Al Horford and Grant Williams stepped up, supplying a combined 26 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocks.
And for those fans down on Jayson Tatum, he showed leadership in this one, producing 33 points, 11 boards, seven assists, one steal and one block. His 4th-quarter disappearance act vanished, led his team and dominated in the final period, scoring 11 points with 5-of-7 from the field.
And finally, The Green have not done well in Clutch Time this season generally, but it didn't come down to that in this crucial contest. When the game clock was down to five minutes remaining, Boston was up by 16 points (102-86).
In the final analysis, Jimmy Butler and the Heat got away from their good habits, and Jayson Tatum and the Celtics got away from their bad ones. Boston sports fans had better hope that trend dominates for Game-5 at TD Garden.
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