Jaylen Brown Shines with 26 Points as Celtics Grab Crucial Game 3 Win vs. Heat

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

The Boston Celtics got in the win column against the Miami Heat after a 117-106 victory in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Saturday at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Florida.

Boston led 100-80 with 7:13 left in the fourth quarter, but Miami engineered a furious comeback and got within five after a Bam Adebayo bucket with 55.9 seconds remaining.

However, Celtics guard Marcus Smart answered with two free throws, and Boston’s defense forced a Tyler Herro air ball on the other end. Free throws iced the victory.

Jaylen Brown scored a game-high 26 points, teammate Jayson Tatum added a 25-point, 14-rebound, eight-assist effort and Kemba Walker dropped 21 points. For the Heat, Adebayo paced the team with 27 points and 16 boards, and Herro scored 22 off the bench.

Boston now trails Miami 2-1 in the best-of-seven matchup.

Notable Performances

Heat C Bam Adebayo: 27 points, 16 rebounds, 2 blocks

Heat G Tyler Herro: 22 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds

Heat F Jimmy Butler: 17 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists

Celtics G Jaylen Brown: 26 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists

Celtics F Jayson Tatum: 25 points, 14 rebounds, 8 assists

Celtics G Kemba Walker: 21 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists

Tatum, Brown Propel Boston to Win

The Celtics found themselves in an all-too-familiar position against the Heat in the second half of Game 3 after amassing a 63-50 halftime lead, marking the third consecutive time Boston held a double-digit lead against its foes.

Boston blew both of the previous leads en route to losses, leading to an ugly locker room scene following Game 2, according to ESPN’s Malika Andrews.

However, Game 3 proved to be a different story thanks largely to Tatum and Brown, whose combined production overwhelmed the poor-shooting Heat.

The two combined to turn excellent defensive plays into easy buckets, with Brown doing the work leading to the Tatum scores.

Tatum returned the favor after grabbing a defensive board and finding Brown for a quick outlet down court:

The key to their success was continued aggressiveness all night as they pushed the pace and relentlessly attacked the rim:

They finished the night with 60 points in the paint compared to Miami’s 36 while outscoring Miami on the fast break (17-13) and off turnovers (19-12).

The Celtics’ refusal to play tentative, scared basketball is a good sign going forward, but the Heat aren’t about to go down without a fight either based on their postseason results thus far. If anything, Saturday showed that Boston-Miami is about to go the distance.

Herro, Adebayo Can’t Save Heat’s Off Night

The Heat had no answers for the Celtics until their fourth-quarter run, and the hole they dug themselves into until that point proved too vast to overcome.

Somehow, it could have been even worse for Miami, which received phenomenal performances from Adebayo and Herro in defeat.

Elsewhere, it was unusually ugly for a Heat team that entered Saturday with a 10-1 record, with the only loss coming in overtime to the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks.

Goran Dragic finished with five turnovers, and the C’s outscored Miami by 29 when he was on the court. He scored just 11 points on 2-of-10 shooting. Jimmy Butler, who scored 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting, got it going late but didn’t fare much better beforehand.

All bench players not named Herro scored six points on 1-of-12 shooting. All players not named Herro or Adebayo scored just 57 points on 15-of-53 shooting.

Still, Herro and Adebayo did all they could to pull this one out. Herro dropped 16 second-quarter points and seemingly couldn’t miss.

Bam dominated down low, scoring buckets and grabbing boards with ease.

It didn’t matter, though, as the rest of the Heat collectively had an off night.

The good news is that Miami still sits in the driver’s seat by virtue of its 2-1 series lead, but Boston has grabbed back momentum for at least one game.

What’s Next?

Game 4 will take place Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. ET. With Boston’s victory, Game 5 is now guaranteed, and that will occur Friday at 8:30 p.m. ET.