The Boston Celtics crushed the Miami Heat 118-84 to claim an emphatic 4-1 series victory on Thursday (AEST) and book their place in the second round of the NBA playoffs.
The playoff top seeds — upset by Miami in last year’s Eastern Conference finals — avenged that loss in spectacular fashion with a one-sided, wire-to-wire rout at TD Garden.
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Jaylen Brown and Derrick White scored 25 points each to lead Boston, which barely noticed the absence of injured Kristaps Porzingis.
The Celtics mounted the challenge in the first quarter, racking up 41 points to open up a sizable 18-point advantage.
They extended that lead to 22 points at halftime and kept the pressure on in the third quarter to lead 98-66 heading into the final quarter.
Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla could afford to rest his front-line players for Game 4 with an effectively won game against an injured Miami team without Jimmy Butler and Jaime Jaquez Jr.
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Mazzulla said the Celtics didn’t think about last year’s loss to Miami.
“I’m not really worried about what happened last year,” Mazzulla said. “Ultimately, I liked the way we approached the series, no matter who they were playing.
“There was intentionality, attention to detail and consistent physicality,” he added.
“And that’s the most important thing, no matter who we play. We wake up tomorrow and we have to do it all again against another team.
Boston will now face either the fourth-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers or fifth-seeded Orlando in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Cleveland leads this series 3-2.
The Celtics head into the upcoming series full of confidence after ruthlessly taking care of eighth-seeded Miami in five games.
White’s 25 points included five three-pointers while Jayson Tatum added 16 points, including 12 rebounds and three assists.
Sam Hauser added 17 points coming off the bench while Jrue Holiday also had double figures with 10 points.
Bam Adebayo led Miami’s scoring with 23 points, with Tyler Herro finishing with 15 and Caleb Martin 10.
– DONCIC SHINES AS THE CLIPPERS BEAT –
In Wednesday’s other playoff game, Luka Doncic had a 35-point performance as the Dallas Mavericks beat the Los Angeles Clippers 123-93 on the road to take a 3-2 series lead.
The 30-point margin of defeat was the Clippers’ heaviest defeat in the NBA playoffs.
Dallas, which can clinch the series with a win in Game 6 at Texas on Friday, pulled away late in the first half to open a 56-46 lead at the break.
They extended that advantage to 20 points after outscoring Los Angeles 33-23 in the third quarter and built up an advantage in the fourth to open up a 32-point advantage at one point.
Doncic finished with 35 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, while Maxi Kleber added 15 off the bench. Kyrie Irving had a relatively quiet evening with 14 points.
“In the playoffs, it doesn’t matter if you win by one point or by 50 points, but it’s still a good win,” Doncic said afterward.
“But the work is not finished. We still have one more to win. We will prepare for the next match.
The Clippers were left to lick their wounds after a humiliating loss that saw their offense make just nine of 35 three-point field goal attempts and 33 of 87 from the field.
Paul George and Ivica Zubac led the scoring with a measly 15 points each, while James Harden added just seven points and Russell Westbrook six off the bench.
“We didn’t play our best game, we understand that collectively. We’ll be better for Game 6,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said.
“Overall, we weren’t good on both sides of the basketball and just had a bad day.”
When asked what he attributed Harden’s poor performance to, Lue replied: “Being human.” He has the right to have a bad match.
