MIAMI, FLORIDA – MAY 25: Jayson Tatum # 0 of the Boston Celtics reacts against the Miami Heat in the fourth quarter of the fifth game of the 2022 NBA Eastern Conference Finals Conference at the FTX Arena on May 25 May 2022 in Miami, Florida. USER NOTE: You expressly acknowledge and agree that by downloading and using this photo, you agree to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Andy Lyons / Getty Images)
It wasn’t nice, but the Boston Celtics took the lead in the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time, and the Miami Heat face elimination in a game 6 on the road less than 48 hours after a another battle of attrition.
Neither team was able to find the net in the first half, but the Celtics unleashed a 24-2 run for six minutes at the end of the first quarter and the start of the quarter. The avalanche turned the first round game of the series into an unequal fifth consecutive victory. Boston’s top-rated defense kept Miami with 32% shots from the field and 16% accuracy from the 3-point range in the 93-80 victory that capped a goalless draw.
Celtics star Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for 10 points on 16 shots in the first half, but made all five attempts to start the fourth quarter, including four triples, to extend their lead to 83-60. Brown scored a maximum of 25 points, and Tatum finished one assist less than a triple-double (22 points, 12 rebounds, nine assists) to lead Boston in a game of his first appearance in the Finals since 2010.
“We’re just playing basketball,” Brown told ESPN after the victory. “It’s the playoffs. One game, you win. The next, [Jimmy Butler] he can come out and score 40 points, so we have to be fantastic game by game. This game only counts as one. We need to be prepared for the next one. “
The Celtics, who are 40-4 in franchise history when they lead a 3-2 series, will host the sixth game on Friday. Boston fans will remember 2012, when the Celtics won 3-2 at home in the conference finals and lost to the Heat.
Both teams shot below 40% from the field and worse from the 3-point line in the first half. Miami scored 12 points on 10 Boston losses and 16 points on nine offensive rebounds, and only led 42-37 at halftime. It was ugly. For the better part, the series saw its first leadership changes since the first quarter of Game 2.
The wounds did not help. Marcus Smart limped off the field and was replaced by. Robert Williams III started with a surgically repaired knee. Tatum again aggravated his shooting shoulder twice. Butler is nursing a swollen right knee and Kyle Lowry a tense left hamstring. Tyler Herro never saw the track with a groin injury.
The story goes on
Butler, Lowry and Max Strus, who was also questioned with a hamstring injury who came into the game and limped on the bench during the game, finished 4 of 33 from the field. They are 8 per 60 (13%) in the last two games.
The Celtics started the third quarter with an 8-0 run and closed it out with a 10-0 run to double the Heat and take a 69-58 lead in the fourth quarter. Miami missed 19 of its 23 field goal attempts and 13 of its 14 3-point shots in the third. The Heat couldn’t make anything beyond a couple of hard jump shots from Gabe Vincent. Reserves Vincent, Duncan Robinson and Caleb Martin scored 33 of Miami’s 80 points overnight.
Boston extended its lead to 23 early in the fourth quarter. Bam Adebayo responded with eight straight points for Miami, and a triple by Vincent ended in a 16-6 run that reduced the deficit to 13 with 4:18 from the end. The Heat couldn’t get any closer, as four more points from Brown and Tatum left nothing but garbage time.
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Ben Rohrbach is a Yahoo Sports writer. Do you have any advice? Email rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach