The Miami Heat turned it up in the second half, rallying again for a 106-101 victory over the Boston Celtics and a 2-0 lead in the NBA Eastern Conference finals.
Trailing by 17 in the second quarter and down 60-47 at halftime, Miami thrashed the Celtics 37-17 in the third quarter and held on for the victory.
Bam Adebayo scored 15 of his 21 points in the Heat’s blistering third quarter.
The Celtics, who let a big lead slip in a 117-114 game one overtime defeat on Tuesday, regained the lead in the fourth quarter and were up 94-89 with 4:25 left to play.
But the Heat chipped away with a hook shot from Adebayo and a steal and dunk by Jimmy Butler.
Goran Dragic followed up two free throws with a three-pointer over Boston big man Daniel Theis that put the Heat ahead 100-95 with 1:42 remaining and Miami powered to the finish line.
“We came here to these playoffs trying to win a championship,” Adebayo said. “We keep stacking these wins and hopefully we get to that point.
“Right now, 2-0, we’ve got to keep stacking those ‘W’s.”
Dragic finished with 25 points, and Duncan Robinson added 18, all on three-pointers.
Adebayo added 10 rebounds and four assists, Jimmy Butler had 14 points, four rebounds, three assists and four steals.
“We like to make it hard for ourselves,” Butler said of the Miami “comeback kids.”
The Heat will try to take a stranglehold on the best-of-seven series in game three tomorrow in the NBA’s quarantine bubble in Orlando.*AFP
