Kemba Walker downplays the commotion in the Celtics’ dugout: it was nothing

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – 14 down in Game 1, the Miami Heat found a way.

Down by 17 in Game 2, they did it again Thursday night (Friday Manila time). And after causing the Boston Celtics to lose another huge advantage on the court, in addition to their calm in the postgame locker room, the unannounced Heat are two wins away from the NBA Finals.

Goran Dragic scored 25 points, Bam Adebayo led a big rally in the third quarter to finish with 21, and the Heat pulled off another comeback to beat the Celtics 106-101 and take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals. .

“We have courage,” Adebayo said. “That’s all I can tell you. We have courage, man.”

Duncan Robinson scored 18 points, Jimmy Butler 14, Jae Crowder 12 and Tyler Herro 11. The Heat trailed by 17 in the second quarter and trailed by 13 at halftime.

They had been 0-21 in playoff games when they trailed by at least that much at halftime. They are now 1-21 with two wins from their first NBA Finals since 2014.

“We like to make things difficult for ourselves,” Butler said. “We like to be down in the double digits and be the kids back.”

Kemba Walker scored 23 points for Boston, which had 21 apiece from Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. Brown missed a 3 corner that would have tied him with 15 seconds left, and Butler sealed it with two free throws with 7.4 seconds left.

The Celtics had a loud and lively conversation in the locker room after the game, the walls couldn’t contain the sound. They tried to downplay what was happening next.

“It was nothing,” Walker said. “Was nothing.”

Tatum added: “We are frustrated. But that’s team sports. We’re not supposed to be happy that we’re down 0-2. But that’s nothing out of the ordinary. Just talking about the game. It’s great.”

Dragic, who was playing on the third anniversary of his best basketball moment, leading Slovenia to the European Championship, scored nine points in the fourth quarter.

“It feels exactly the same,” Dragic said, when asked to compare Slovenia’s gold to the Heat’s victory. “A great day.”

The Heat took a 2-0 series lead for the 11th time in coach Erik Spoelstra’s tenure. The previous 10 instances have won.

The third game is Saturday.

The Heat got into big trouble in the first period of the series by scoring 18 points in the first quarter and 16 points in the third. In Game 2, another 18-point quarter, the second, sent Boston halfway up comfortably, 60-47.

And then everything changed.

Miami outscored Boston 37-17 in the third quarter, with Adebayo, the defensive hero of Game 1, outscoring and nearly outscoring the Celtics on his own. Boston was 4-of-12 from the ground in the fourth, Adebayo was 7-of-8 on his way to a 15-point span and the Heat led 84-77 when finished.

“We broke up and we didn’t play well,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. “And they did a good job. We won’t beat this team if we’re not fully connected on both ends of the court. So we have to go back to being that, what we’ve been at times. But right now, they’re a better team. We’re going to have to fight to get back into this series. “

PHOTO: AP

They showed some fighting in the room. The Celtics went on a 15-2 streak, silencing the Heat for nearly seven minutes and going 94-89 on a 3-pointer by Walker with 4:25 to play.

That only set the stage for another Heat rally: Miami finished the game on a 17-7 streak.

“Team effort,” Butler said.

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TIPS

Heat: Miami’s 20-point differential in the third quarter was a Heat record for that quarter in the playoffs, and the sixth time in the history of the Heat’s playoffs that they outscored an opponent by at least 20 in any quarter. … Robinson, who was 2-for-9-3 in his last two games, had four in the first quarter and six in the game. … Andre Iguodala was unable to play after halftime due to back strain.

Celtics: Gordon Hayward (ankle) was out. … Enes Kanter and Romeo Langford got first-quarter minutes after not playing in Game 1, but Langford left after about a minute with an adductor strain. Kanter had nine points and six rebounds in eight minutes of the first half.

ALL 3 ARE WILD

Crowder’s 3-pointer with 5:43 left in the third quarter was fittingly 33,333 in NBA playoff history.

UPDATE SCHEDULE

There will be a hiatus between Games 3 and 4. Game 3 is Saturday; Game four won’t be until Wednesday.

HBCU NIGHT

Approximately 100 students and alumni from more than 60 historically black colleges and universities were able to watch (via video screens) as part of the NBA’s HBCU Virtual Fan Night. They also held a question and answer session with the Philadelphia forward and Norfolk State University alumnus Kyle O’Quinn at halftime.
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