Rob Issa, FISM News
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The Boston Celtics are halfway to history.
Derrick White scored 24 points, Marcus Smart had 23 points, and the Celtics beat the Miami Heat 110-97 on Thursday night in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals.
The Celtics have won two in a row after falling behind 3-0 in the series. No NBA team has ever overcome a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series. Teams are 0-150 in that scenario.
“We’ve got to do whatever it takes to get a win,” White said.
We’ve got a lot of love for each other, top to bottom. We’re out there competing, and we know it’s a long way to go, and we’ve got a lot of work to do, but it’s always fun competing with the guys in our locker room.
The Celtics also faced elimination twice in the previous round against the Philadelphia 76ers after falling behind 3-2 before rallying to win the last two games.
“It just says that our backs are against the wall and we’re sticking together and we’re competing at a high level to give ourselves a chance,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown each added 21 points for the Celtics, who defeated Miami in the East finals last year.
Game 6 is Saturday in Miami. The Heat are aiming to become the second No. 8 seed to reach the NBA Finals and the first to do it after a full regular season.
“We’re always going to stay positive, knowing that we can and we will win the series,” Heat star Jimmy Butler said. “We just have to close it out at home.”
Butler had 14 points in his lowest-scoring game of the playoffs. Duncan Robinson led the Heat with 18 and Bam Adebayo scored 16. Miami never led in the game.
“One game doesn’t lead to the next game,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
It just doesn’t matter. It’s about collectively preparing and putting together a great game. We’ll play much better on Saturday. That’s all we just have to focus on right now.
White not only led Boston in scoring, making six 3-pointers, but also played stellar defense on Butler.
“Yeah, D-White, Second Team All-Defense this year for a reason,” Tatum said. “He’s a big part of our team, our identity, things we try and do on the defensive end. He’s a very smart basketball player on both ends, and his awareness, his instincts, they showed tonight.”
With much of Miami’s defensive focus on Tatum and Brown, White had an opportunity to contribute more on offense. He nailed his shots when he had open looks.
“They got a lot of focus on JB, JT, so they’re always empowering me to shoot when I’m open and I was able to find some openings and knock them down,” White said.
White is shooting 47.9% from 3-point range in the postseason, including 42% in the series.
“Big-time player, big-time shots tonight,” Brown said. “D-White came ready to play. As soon as they gave him any space, he let it fly, and he got hot from downtown.”
Celtics fans chanted “Beat the Heat” throughout the night, a wild turnaround over the past two games after it seemed Miami had taken control of the series.
Boston won three games on the Heat’s home court in the East finals last year and one more in Game 4. Another road win Saturday will bring Game 7 back to Boston.
“It’s going to be a grind,” White said of Game 6. “They’re going to come back and play well. The crowd is going to be in it. It’s not going to be easy. It’s going to take 48 minutes of battling, scratching, clawing, and we’ve got to find a way to win.”