The Celtics Take Both Games In Miami In Dominant Fashion And Head Back To Boston Up 3-1
Brian Babineau. Getty Images.
Advertisement
Now THAT is exactly what the Celtivcs needed to do in Game 4. Another wire to wire ass kicking to take a commanding 3-1 series lead, there were only 2 lead changes and 0 ties in this entire game. That's been the story of all three of the Celts wins in this series, as they've all come by blowout. Game 1, 0 lead changes 0 ties, won by 20. Game 3, I think there was 1 lead change and 0 ties, won by 20. Tonight, 2 lead changes, 0 ties and a "14 point" win. Make no mistake, the end of this game was filled with meaningless buckets. Celts were up by as much as 28 points in this game, on the road.
And while that's all fun, the only thing that matters at this point isn't the 3-1 lead. It's the health of Kristaps Porzingis
I have never wanted to believe a Woj bomb more in my life than that one right there. I know he sometimes doesn't get the best Celts info, but I'm willing to trust him here. Walking away with only "calf tightness" or a "calf strain" is what I would call the best case scenario. Sit him for the rest of the series and have him ready for Round 2 should you close this series out. It will provide a set of challenges given we've seen previous non-Porzingis Celtics teams fall to the Heat, but if anything this should give everyone extra motivation to close this shit out in 5 and let everyone recover.
Because it wouldn't be a game against the Heat unless there was the risk of everyone getting injured. Whether it's KP or Tatum
Advertisement
the Celtics need to end this series on Wednesday simply to avoid any more catastrophic injuries. You know the Heat will be desperate in Game 5, so just handle your business, get out healthy, and we can all move on.
I will say, despite the Celts winning this game by blowout and being up 3-1, I don't think they played all that well offensively. Jaylen was mostly a disaster, Tatum shot just 5-14 (2-6), Holiday 4-10, I mean they only scored 102 points. This coming after only scoring 104 in Game 3, and now they're most likely going to have to operate without the offensive cheat code in Porzingis. That is a little concerning regardless of how good it feels to be up 3-1.
After dropping Game 2, the pressure was on for this team to show us they were different and respond by taking not just one, but both games. They passed that test, and now the bigger test comes in Game 5. Can they not play with their food and end the series? Or will they fuck around (again) and let this thing extend.
One way to prevent that might just be to let Derrick White do everything. What a performance from him
Advertisement
Best player on the floor and it wasn't particularly close. Getting those type of out of body experiences over the course of a playoff run makes all the difference in the world, and the two way performance we just got from Derrick White was legendary shit. If he's going to be aggressive like we saw tonight, it changes everything.
Well dive into it fully in the breakdown tomorrow. For now, please join me in spending the next 2 days praying that Kristaps Porzingis will be OK. Time to pull out all the stops, do whatever you have to do.
3 down, 13 to go.