Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (R) gains position against Boston Celtics guard Derrick White (C) on Wednesday at TD Garden in Boston. Photo by C.J. Gunther/EPA-EFE
April 25 (UPI) — Following a blowout first-round playoff loss to the Boston Celtics in Game 1 and playing without two key players in Game 2, the Miami Heat opted to use noise from doubters to fuel a series-tying victory in Boston.
Star guard Tyler Herro and center Bam Adebayo paced the 111-101 triumph Wednesday at TD Garden. Herro totaled 24 points, 14 assists and five rebounds. Adebayo chipped in 21 points and 10 rebounds.
“We’ve been doubted a lot through our playoff runs,” Adebayo told reporters. “There are people saying we couldn’t do a lot of stuff that we did. For me and my team, it’s like, why lose belief now?
“Our backs are against the wall and everybody is always against us. Use it as fuel.”
The Heat, who played without injured star forward Jimmy Butler and guard Terry Rozier, two of their top four scorers, made 49.3% of their shots, including 53.5% from 3-point range.
The Celtics shot 46.3% overall and 37.5% from 3-point range.
The Heat and Celtics exchanged the lead seven times through the first quarter. The Heat carried a 28-27 edge into the second. The Celtics outscored the Heat 34-30 over the next 12 minutes and led 61-58 at halftime.
The Heat used a 10-2 run early in the third to take a 72-67 edge. They later added a 10-0 run to push their lead to a dozen. The Celtics ended the frame with a 9-3 run, but still trailed by six to start the fourth.
They cut the deficit to five with 6:22 remaining, but never got closer. The Heat held a 26-22 scoring advantage over the final 12 minutes.
Celtics forwards Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum scored 33 and 28 points, respectively. Celtics guard Derrick White chipped in 13 points in the loss.
Heat guard Caleb Martin scored 21 points. Forwards Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Nikola Jovic chipped in 14 and 11 points, respectively.
“This win is just one win,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Series are potentially long and tough. You have to stay emotionally and mentally stable throughout all of it. You just have to focus on competing at a high level together.”
The Heat (1-1) will host the Celtics (1-1) in Game 3 at 8 p.m. EDT Saturday in Miami. Game 4 of the best-of-seven series will be Monday in Miami.
