Celtics blow late lead, lose Game 2 to fall into 0-2 series hole against Heat
BOSTON – The Boston Celtics are in a heap of trouble. The Celtics once again lost on their home court Friday night, dropping Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals to the visiting Miami Heat to fall into an 0-2 series hole.
The Celtics blew a 96-87 lead in the fourth-quarter as the Heat ended the game on a 24-9 run, and a stunned Boston team walked off the TD Garden floor with a 111-105 loss.
Jayson Tatum scored 34 points on Friday but only five in the fourth quarter -- all off free throws -- as Miami outmuscled the Celtics in the final frame. Tatum missed all three of his shots in the final quarter-- all 3-pointers -- and has now gone two straight games without a make from the field in the fourth.
Tatum was 10-for-20 on the night, adding 13 rebounds and eight assists to his stat sheet. He was the only member of the Celtics to do much of anything Friday night, with Jaylen Brown finishing with 16 points off 7-for-23 shooting. Brown was a minus-24 over his 38 minutes in Game 2.
Marcus Smart was just 2-for-5 for seven points, and Al Horford had just two points off 1-for-5 shooting.
Grant Williams was 4-for-6 for nine points off the Boston bench, but he mixed it up with Jimmy Butler late in the game and woke up the Heat star. Butler scored nine of his 27 points in the fourth, including a pullup with 2:58 left that tied the game and another jumper on Miami's next possession to put the Heat on top 102-100.
Miami got a huge game from Bam Adebayo, who had 22 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists, and Caleb Martin added 25 points off the Heat bench.
The Heat outscored the Celtics, 36-22, in the fourth quarter to steal the game and take full control of the series. The Celtics are now 4-5 at home this postseason, and face a must-win Game 3 in Miami on Sunday night.
Home teams that lose the first two games of a best-of-seven series are 5-27 all-time in the NBA.
