The Boston Celtics advanced to the second round of the NBA Playoffs after destroying the Miami Heat in the fifth game of the series, while Dallas Mavericks beat Los Angeles Clippers away from home to put the tie three games to two.
The Celtics didn’t give the Heat any chance
The Celtics took revenge for the last Eastern Finals when, at TD Garden, they defeated the Heat 118-84 to close the first round postseason series 4-1.
A little less than a year ago, the Heat left TD Garden after completing an amazing feat by beating the Celtics on the road in Game 7 of a vibrant Eastern Conference finals.
This year the Celtics returned to the playoffs as dominators of the regular season with a record of 64-18 and destroyed the Heat showing unquestionable dominance in their field.
Jaylen Brown, with 25 points and six rebounds, and Derrick White, with 25 points, five rebounds and five triples, led the victory of Joe Mazzulla’s team, which reached the second round of the postseason for the seventh time in the last eight seasons.
Jayson Tatum contributed 16 points and twelve rebounds, Jrue Holiday contributed ten points and Dominican Al Horford, starting in Mazzulla’s quintet, contributed with eight points, six rebounds and three assists.
Horford entered the Celtics’ starting five on a night in which Boston was without Latvian Kristaps Porzingis, who suffered a soleus injury in the fourth game of this series.
The Celtics were also able to count on 17 points from Sam Hauser (5 triples) coming off the bench and gave no option to a Heat that says goodbye to the postseason in the first round after reaching the Finals in 2023.
Erik Spoelstra’s team was down on the scoreboard from start to finish and could not count on its leader Jimmy Butler for the entirety of this series.
Bam Adebayo, an intern who will also represent the United States in the next Olympic Games in Paris 2024, was the only one to support the Heat with 23 points.
The power forward had 21 of those 23 points at halftime, when the Heat were already losing 68-46. Miami’s second-best scorer at halftime was Tyler Herro, with seven points.
The Celtics, for their part, showed off an unquestionable competitive pace and already had three players in double figures. Brown and White had 17 points each and Tatum, fifteen.
The Celtics’ maximum lead was 34 points and Mazzulla was able to rest his stars. Brown and White did not play any minutes in the fourth period, and Tatum was only on the court for two minutes.
The Celtics now await a rival in the second round, who will be the winner of the series between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic.
The Cavaliers have a 3-2 lead against the Magic, who will host Game 6 this Thursday in Orlando.
With an inspired Luka Doncic, the Mavericks took advantage over the Clippers
The Slovenian Luka Doncic signed a double double of 35 points and ten assists this Wednesday and led the overwhelming 123-93 victory of the Dallas Mavericks at the home of the Los Angeles Clippers, which leaves the Texans one victory away from going to the second round of playoffs.
After giving up in Dallas despite coming close to a historic 31-point comeback, the Mavs took revenge with an extraordinary performance in Los Angeles, both offensively and defensively.
Doncic, who was competing with discomfort in his right knee, finished the game with 35 points, seven rebounds, ten assists and 14 of 26 shooting from the field. Kyrie Irving supported him with fourteen points and Maxi Kleber shone coming off the bench with fifteen points, the result of five of seven from the three-point line.
The Mavs inflicted on the Clippers the worst defeat in their history in the playoffs and will be able to seal their place in the second round on Friday if they beat the Angelenos at home.
The prize for the winner of this series will be a high-voltage confrontation with the Oklahoma City Thunder, the first seed in the West, who defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 4-0.
The Clippers failed to defeat the Mavs on a night in which they shot with a modest 37.9% from the field (33 of 87) and connected on nine of 35 three-point attempts, even missing fourteen in a row.
Without Kawhi Leonard, out due to knee problems, Paul George was the Angelenos’ leading scorer with fifteen points and eleven rebounds. James Harden did not exceed seven points. La Barba and George had scored 66 points between them in the fourth game of the series, this Wednesday they reached 22 in total.
Ivica Zubac was the one who supported the Clippers in the first half and finished with fifteen points. Russell Westbrook scored six off the bench and Norman Powell fourteen.
The problems in his right knee that had been going on for several days did not stop Doncic and the Mavericks put their victory downhill with an excellent end to the second period, ending with a 14-4 run to take a ten-point lead.
If the Clippers, especially under Zubac, suffered a lot to keep up with the Mavericks in the first half, in the second they completely collapsed.
They went nearly five minutes without making a field goal and missed fourteen consecutive three-point attempts. The Mavericks defended with excellent commitment and Derrick Jones Jr managed to deactivate Paul George.
The Mavs took advantage of it to sign a devastating 14-0 run that shot their lead up to 71-50. Doncic led the Texans with fourteen points in a third period that ended 33-23 that left the Clippers shaken.
The Angelenos did not have the strength to react. They reached a maximum deficit of 32 points and finished the match in a Crypto.com Arena with many empty seats.
The first match point for the Mavs will be this Friday in Dallas against a Clippers against the wall and forced to win the next two games to advance.
