The Boston Celtics were just 2-11 when down 3-1 in a playoff series, but Jayson Tatum led a furious third-quarter comeback and the Celtics stifled the Heat in the second half to extend the Eastern Conference Finals on Friday night.
The Heat held a 58-51 lead after halftime, but struggled from the field in the second half and were outscored 41-25 in the third quarter. Miami is one of the best three-point shooting teams in the NBA, but they shot an abysmal 7-for-36 from three in Game 5, good for 19.4 percent.
Paul Pierce said at halftime that Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown needed to have superstar performances in the second half, and they both delivered. Tatum finished the game with 31 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, and Brown had 28 points and eight rebounds.
TATUM. SPLASH 💦
Celtics on a 20-3 run to start the 3rd 🔥 pic.twitter.com/umXga3XcnM
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 26, 2020
Jaylen Brown back-to-back triples!@MiamiHEAT 91@celtics 103
7:20 to play on ESPN pic.twitter.com/4Zkzut68Dv
— NBA (@NBA) September 26, 2020
The series will continue with Game 6 on Sunday.
