Celtics take 3-2 series lead in Eastern Conference Final

One day after being named to the NBA’s First All-Star Team, Boston Celtics star forward Jayson Tatum of St. Louis, Missouri, showed the basketball world why he is one of the league’s best. On Wednesday, Tatum notched a double-double, as he had 22 points and 12 rebounds in a 93-80 Boston win over the Miami Heat. With the victory, the Celtics now lead the Eastern Conference Final three games to two.

Even though Tatum had the double-double, he did not lead the Celtics in scoring. That feat belonged to Jaylen Brown, who had 25 points. Two other Celtics players reached double digits in scoring. Al Horford had 16 points, and Derrick White notched 14 points while coming off the bench. Robert Williams meanwhile reached double digits in rebounds with 10.

Unlike the last three games of the series where the team that dominated the first quarter took control of the match, the first quarter of game five on Wednesday was rather even, as the Heat had a narrow 19-17 lead. In fact, the Heat led the Celtics 42-37 at the half, before the Celtics took control in the second half, as they outscored the Heat 56-38.

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The Celtics must be thrilled with the performance of their defense. They outblocked the Heat 7-2 in game five, and had 10 more defensive rebounds as a unit. Boston had 40, while Miami had 30.

The Heat also desperately need more production from Kyle Lowry, who is coming off a hamstring injury. If he is going to be in a starting role for Miami, he simply needs to produce more offensively. In game five, Lowry had zero points, and missed all six of his field goal attempts. Of his six attempts, five came from downtown.

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