NBA, Tatum and Brown lead the Celtics: Boston resurrects, makes 2-1 and reopens the series

After being +14 in game-1 and +17 in game-2 – only to get back together and end up losing – the Celtics lead game-3 from the first second to the last, build an advantage of up to 20 points and they administer in the final, winning the point of 2-1. They do it with 4 players at least 20 points, only the second time in the last 25 years of the franchise’s history.

Jayson Tatum’s game is close to perfection: he scores 25 points with 9/20 shooting and an immaculate 5/5 from the line, adds 14 rebounds and also distributes 8 assists, two less from a sensational triple double. It is therefore not surprising that his plus / minus (+23) is the best of all the men on the pitch.

His “twin” to the Celtics, Jaylen Brown, is no less: he pulls even better (11/17), scores 26 points and fills the scoresheet in a thousand categories: for him even 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals. The pair Tatum-Brown thus becomes only the second in the last 30 playoffs of the Boston Celtics to close a match with at least 25 + 5 + 5: Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo managed for the last time in race-2 of the finals in East of 2010.

Marcus Smart, one of the most positive players for coach Brad Stevens in the whole series – and the one who after the knockout in Game-2 had exploded with anger in the locker room – contributes with a super game to the success of Boston, concrete as usual: only 10 shots from the field (5 made) but also 10 in the line (and a perfect 100%), nine of which were made in the fourth quarter.

The fourth Celtics to touch 20 points is Kemba Walker: coach Stevens’ point guard closes at 21 with 8/16 shooting (all of Boston shows percentages close to 50% from the field, but is even better – 59% – against the Miami area, which had put them in crisis in the third quarter of game-2), has only 2 assists but 6 rebounds and helps to keep the Miami Heat 39% from the field.