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Kemba Walker of the Boston Celtics, from left, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown (7) and Jimmy Butler (22) of the Miami Heat watch as Heat guard Tyler Herro (14) tries to shoot at Marcus Smart of the Celtics (36) during the first half of Game 4 of an NBA Eastern Conference basketball final, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020, in Lake Buena Vista, Florida (AP Photo / Mark J. Terrill)
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida— The youngest player on the court helped the Miami Heat walk one game away from the NBA Finals.
Tyler Herro, still 20, scored 37 points, a rookie record for the Heat, Jimmy Butler 24 and Miami beat the Boston Celtics 112-109 Wednesday night in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals. .
Goran Dragic added 22 and Bam Adebayo had 20 points and 12 rebounds to help the Heat take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. They can shut it down on Friday night in Game 5.
Jayson Tatum scored his 28 points in the second half for the Celtics. They erased a double-digit deficit to take a one-point lead in the fourth, then watched the Heat flee again. Jaylen Brown scored 21 points, Kemba Walker added 20, Gordon Hayward had 14 and Marcus Smart finished with 10 points and 11 assists.
Brown’s 3-pointer with 16 seconds left reduced Miami’s lead to 107-104. Herro hit the line 2.1 seconds later and coldly waved a pair, stretching the lead back to five. The Celtics got within two points twice, Butler hit a free throw with 1.1 seconds to go, and Boston, outside of timeouts, never had a desperate shot.
Herro hit 14 of 21 shots from the floor, 5 of 10 from 3-point range and became the second 20-year-old in NBA playoff history to score at least 37 points in a game. The other: Magic Johnson, who had 42 in Game 6 of the 1980 NBA Finals for the Los Angeles Lakers.
“I feel good,” Herro said. “There is still a lot of work to do. We go up 3-1 “.
And the Heat’s rookie playoff record was 27 by Dwyane Wade in 2004; now belongs to Herro, who scored 17 points in the fourth alone.
He had five straight points in the fourth to help push what was a one-point lead back to 91-85, his 3-pointer with 4:09 to play made it 98-90 and he struck again with 56 seconds left when he took a Butler’s pass for a layup and a nine-point lead.
Theis scored with 8:44 left to put Boston up 85-84, the Celtics’ first lead since 25-24 with 11:19 left in the second quarter.
Tatum missed his first seven shots before a 3-pointer fell in the middle of the third and cut Miami’s lead to 60-53.
The Heat could have risen a lot more at that point. Butler had a basket fired about a minute earlier because he fouled, and on Miami’s next possession, the Heat missed four shots: three from 3-point range, then another attempt at the basket.
It was part of what was a 3-for-17 losing streak by the Heat, dating back to the second quarter.
And still, they led, because Boston’s offense wasn’t much better. The Celtics shot exactly 8 of 20 in each of the first two quarters and that, combined with 11 turnovers, helped the Heat go into halftime with a 50-44 lead.
But Tatum’s first basket started what became a 6-for-7 finish in the third quarter for him, he had 16 of Boston’s 32 points in that span and the Celtics were 77-76 within the quarter.
TIPS
Celtics: Tatum’s first half 0-for-6 tied for the second-worst pitch of his career in the first half. He was 0 of 8 to start against Dallas on November 11, and 0 of 6 against Milwaukee in the first two quarters of a playoff game on April 17, 2018 … It was announced before the game that Gordon Hayward and his wife Robyn are parents for the fourth time; Gordon Theodore Hayward is his first child.
Heat: Dragic tripled with 8:51 remaining in the third quarter for a 58-46 lead, Miami’s first double-digit lead in the series. The Heat’s biggest lead in the first three games was eight points. … Solomon Hill got the minutes of the first quarter for the first time in these playoffs.
LANGFORD OUT
No one knows when next season will start, but the Celtics anticipate that point guard Romeo Langford might not be ready when he does. Langford underwent surgery this week to repair a ligament problem in his wrist. “He’ll probably bleed out next season, whenever it starts,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said.
3-1 LEADS
This is the 12th time Miami has taken a 3-1 lead in a best-of-seven series. The Heat won each of the previous 11.
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