Celtics Wrap: Boston Explodes In Second Half To Keep Season Alive

The Boston Celtics kept their season on life support Tuesday night, earning a 116-99 victory over the Miami Heat at Kaseya Center.

The C’s victory cut the Heat’s lead in the Eastern Conference finals to 3-1.

Check out the full box score here.

ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
The Celtics were awoken from their week-long slumber at approximately 9:43 p.m. ET on Tuesday night.

The first 24 minutes of Game 4 followed a similar script to that of the first 144 of the series. Boston didn’t make open shots, failed to successfully penetrate zone defense and did everything but keep Miami shooters out of rhythm. Then, right after halftime, the Celtics seemed to flip the script.

The C’s held onto the ball for the majority of the final two quarters, moved the ball with effectiveness and got the Heat out of their defensive rotations, forced turnovers and — in the most important development of the game — made shots. Though things were slowed considerably by a quick whistle for both sides, the Celtics surprisingly didn’t allow their momentum to be halted. Boston survived its non-Jayson Tatum minutes to start the final stanza and finally pulled away when the All-NBA star came back in to finish things off.

Boston outscored Miami by 23 points in the second half, only turning the ball over two times across the final two stanzas.

And in case you were wondering, yes… Joe Mazzulla called timeouts following Heat runs to keep momentum swings from (literally) killing his team. The final 24 minutes of Game 4 were the opposite of what we’ve seen so far, perhaps the best thing the Celtics could have hoped for.

STARS OF THE GAME
— Tatum’s second-half emergence was exactly what Boston needed to keep its season alive. The four-time All-Star finished with 33 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, two blocks and one steal.

— Grant Williams, for all of the flak he received following Game 2, was Boston’s best role player in Game 4. He finished with 14 points on 4-for-7 shooting from three-point range, six rebounds, one block and one steal.

— Derrick White finally bounced back from his playoff-long slump, finishing with 16 points, two rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals.

WAGER WATCH
There was an opportunity to make some quick money in this one, as Al Horford opened up the scoring with a three ball. The 36-year-old was given +1800 odds to score the first field goal at BetMGM, netting $100 bettors a quick and easy $1,900 payout.

UP NEXT
The Celtics and Heat will return to Boston for Game 5 on Thursday. Tipoff from TD Garden is set for 8:30 p.m. ET.