The Celtics have won Game 5 against the Miami Heat. This series is not over and Boston is halfway to doing something potentially historic.
The Boston Celtics beat the Miami Heat, 110-97, in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
This was not a game from the start as the Celtics took an early lead and never really looked back. Everything was hitting for Boston in this game.
They are two wins away from creating something historic by coming back from a 3-0 series deficit. This has never been done in the NBA playoffs.
3 reasons the Celtics won Game 5 over the Heat
Jaylen Brown
Jaylen Brown was amazing in this game. He has really struggled in this series to start and he began to make up for that on Thursday night.
Brown was his usual dominant self on the offensive end as he went for 21 points on 50 percent shooting from the floor. It really seemed like the All-NBA player was an All-NBA player again. Up until this point, he hasn't been that kind of guy.
His driving ability was very nice. It was something that he lacked in games past which is part of the reason that the Celtics are in this 3-2 hole.
It is only four-point improvement from his performance in Game 5 but this seemed like a major difference from his play previously in this series.
Derrick White
It was really tempting to go with Jayson Tatum here but his struggles from three prevented him from taking this spot.
Derrick White ended up with six threes in this game on his way to a team-leading 24 points. White was killer from the three-point line.
Yes, Tatum and Brown were able to create the necessary spacing for White but White's points made this game a blowout from the start.
Going in, it would have been weird to see that White was the leading scorer in a Celtics win, but his three-point shooting ability will certainly be key again in Game 6 if the two All-NBA players can create space.
Miami Heat turnovers
The Heat ended up with sixteen turnovers in this game. That is not a winning formula for a team trying to close out a series.
Bam Adebayo was the worst offender of this, as he had six turnovers. Kyle Lowry was the second-worst offender as he had four turnovers.
Some of these turnovers were just bad movements in transition and would (probably) not happen if Miami slowed down their pace. Lowry's turnovers are a lot more concerning due to the fact that those are happening due to Gabe Vincent being out.
With the way that the Heat played in Game 5, Game 6 seems like a must win if they want to win the series. It's the final game in Miami in the series and the Heat cannot send this back to Boston.
If the Heat play the way they played in this game during Game six, this series is over. The Boston Celtics will end up making history on their way to the NBA finals.
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