Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown scored 25 points in a playoff series-clinching win over the Miami Heat on Wednesday in Boston. Photo by Rhona Wise/EPA-EFE
May 2 (UPI) — Jaylen Brown challenged his Boston Celtics teammates to continue to grow and trust in each other after they eliminated the Miami Heat to advance to the second round of the NBA playoffs.
Brown totaled 25 points and six rebounds in the series-clinching 118-84 victory Wednesday in Boston. The Celtics used the Game 5 triumph to win the best-of-seven series 4-1.
The top-seeded Celtics will meet the No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers or No. 5 Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
“I think we just have to continue to play our game like we’ve been doing our whole career and continue to show our growth by trusting our teammates,” Brown told reporters Wednesday at TD Garden.
“I think if we’re going to win, we’re going to win as a team.”
The Celtics outshot the Heat 54.5% to 41.4% in Game 5. They made 40% of their 3-point attempts, compared to the Heat’s 10.3% (3 of 29) clip. The Celtics held a 56-29 edge in rebounding and led by as many as 37 points.
“We did our job,” said Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, who totaled 16 points and 12 rebounds. “We took care of business.”
Celtics guard Derrick White, who scored a career-high 38 points in Game 4, scored 15 in the first quarter of Game 5. The Celtics outscored the Heat 41-23 over the first 12 minutes.
The Celtics outscored the Heat 27-23 in the second quarter and led 68-46 at halftime. They poured in another 30 points in the third quarter, while holding the Heat to 20. They outscored the Heat 20-18 over the final 12 minutes.
White matched Brown with a game-high 25 points for the Celtics. He made 5 of 10 3-point attempts. Celtics forward Sam Hauser also made 5 3-pointers and logged 17 points off the bench.
Center Bam Adebayo paced the Heat with 23 points, six assists and five rebounds. Heat guard Tyler Hero scored 15 points. He was 1 of 8 from 3-point range.
The Heat, who played without injured stars Jimmy Butler, Terry Rozier and Jaime Jaquez Jr., made just 12 of 62 (19.3%) 3-point attempts between Game 4 and Game 5, combined.
“We’re not going to put this on the fact that we’ve had some injuries,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Let’s not take anything away from Boston. They’ve been the best team in basketball all season long. In this series, in four of the games, they played as such.
“That had nothing to do with the injuries, nothing to do with guys that were available or not available.”
Tatum and Brown led the Celtics to an NBA-best 64-18 record during the regular season. The 64 wins were the fourth-most in Celtics franchise history.
The Celtics. who failed to advance past the conference finals in 12 of their last 13 trips to the postseason, are looking to win their first title since 2007-08.
The Heat eliminated the Celtics in four of their previous five playoff series meetings, including in three of their last four Eastern Conference finals series.
“They probably had something to motivate them even more against us, but they played at a high level,” Spoelstra said of the Celtics. “I will not watch one minute of their games, but they’ve got a very good team, and they know what they’re doing and they deserved this one.”
Game 1 of the Celtics’ Eastern Conference semifinals series will be scheduled at the conclusion of the Cavaliers-Magic series. The Cavaliers won Game 5 on Tuesday and hold a 3-2 series lead. Game 6 will tip off at 7 p.m. EDT Friday in Orlando, Fla. Game 7, if necessary, will be Sunday in Cleveland.
The Dallas Mavericks, who hold the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference, beat the No. 4 Los Angeles Clippers in Game 5 of that first-round series Wednesday in Los Angeles. They hold a 3-2 series lead, with Game 6 scheduled for Friday in Dallas.
The winner of that series will meet the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals. The No. 2 Denver Nuggets will host the No. 3 Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 1 of the other Western Conference semifinals series Saturday in Denver.
The No. 6 Indiana Pacers, who own a 3-2 lead on the No. 3 Milwaukee Bucks, will host Game 6 of that first-round Eastern Conference series at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in Indianapolis.
The No. 2 New York Knicks, who hold a 3-2 lead on the No. 7 Philadelphia 76ers, will take the floor for Game 6 of the other first-round Eastern Conference series at 9 p.m. Thursday in Philadelphia.
The winners from those two series will meet in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The winner of that series will meet the Celtics, Cavaliers or Magic in the Eastern Conference finals.
