SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
By Arnie Leshin
For those itching for a 13th National Basketball Association playoff final matching the Boston Celtics with the Los Angeles Lakers, remain calm and take what you get, for presciently the Celts are where the Denver Nuggets have been, down 3-1 in games to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals via Wednesday night‘s loss at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
And the top-seeded Lakers took the first two games from the Denver comeback kids, but back bounced the Nuggets to claim game three and show they’re still hanging around like a cockroach in the bubble. Now Denver have won its Western Conference quarterfinals over the Utah Jazz, and the semifinals over the Los Angeles Clippers, both while being down 3 games to 1. Now let’s see if 3-seeded Boston can do the same versus the red-hot six seeds from Miami.
The hero for this 112-109 Heat is apply named Tyler “Herro”, and he’s a 20-year-old rookie from Milwaukee who played for the Kentucky Wildcats. He tossed in a game-high 37 points, a playoff high for any rookie since Magic Johnson’s initial season with the Lakers.
“I always play with confidence,” Herro said. “I’ve done this since I grew up with a basketball in my hand. I’m also playing with a very good team, a balanced team with a very good coaching staff. I look for shots, I look to pass the ball, I trap on defense, and I just have fun, especially when winning.”
Herro tallied on 14-of-24 shots from the field, converted 6-of-7 from the foul line, made 5-of-10 free throws, handed out three assists, and took down six rebounds. Three other Miami players scored in double figures, Jimmy Butler with 23, Goran Dragic 22, and Bam Adebayto with 20. Adebaydo also had the team-high dozen rebounds and four assists. Butler added nine boards and three assists, and Dragic took down five rebounds and dished out three assists.
The Celtics had the most rebounds, 45-40, less assists, 28-20, made good from the 3 with 14-of-42,, while the Heat shot 10-for-36 from the 3. For Boston, Jayson Tatum made for an unscored first half by scoring the team-high 28 points to go with nine rebounds and four assists. Jaylen Brown chipped in with 21 points, nine boards, and a pair of assists. There was also Kemba Walker turning in 20 points, four boards and five assists.
Then there was Marcus Smart with 10 points and the team-high 11 assists, and Gordon Hayward adding 14 points to go with seven rebounds and three assists. In minutes played, Brown played 39 for the Celtics. For the Heat, Adebayo was in for 41 minutes.
The teams play again Friday night in game five.. Tonight, it’s game four between the Lakers and Nuggets.
