GORAN Dragić fueled Miami Heat’s offense in the endgame as they cruised to a 106-101 victory over Boston Celtics in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Finals on Thursday night (Friday in the Philippines).
With the score tied at 95-all, Dragić drained two free throws and a triple to give Heat a 102-95 edge. The Celtics cut the deficit to 98-102, but a basket by Dragić and two free throws by Jimmy Butler sealed the win for Miami.
Dragić finished the match with 25 points, five rebounds and three assists, Bam Adebayo added double-double 21 points and 10 rebounds while Duncan Robinson drained six triples to finish with 18 points.
The Heat had a flat start and went down by as much as 17 points at 43-60 late in the second period before unloading a huge third quarter rally behind Adebayo, Robinson and Jae Crowder to take a 72-71 lead.
It grew further to 87-79 early in the fourth quarter following baskets from Adebayo and Butler, but the Celtics answered with a rally of its own to take a 94-89 lead on a three-pointer by Kemba Walker.
Boston last hung on to the advantage at 95-93, but Miami was able to knot the game at 95-all on a layup by Butler before leaning on Dragić for the finishing kick.
Walker tallied 23 points while Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum chipped in 21 markers apiece for the Celtics.
BOX SCORES:
MIAMI 106 – Dragić 25, Adebayo 21, Robinson 18, Butler 14, Crowder 12, Herro 11, Olynyk 5, Iguodala 0, Jones Jr 0, Nunn 0.
BOSTON 101 – Walker 23, Brown 21, Tatum 21, Smart 14, Kanter 9, Wanamaker 7, Theis 6, Langford 0, Williams 0, Ojeleye 0.
QUARTERSCORES:
Q1, 28-31; Q2, 47-60; Q3, 84-77; Q4, 106-101.
The NBA holds all matches of its 2019-2020 playoffs at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex inside Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida, United States./PN
