NALASAP ng Miami Heat ang 110-97 pagkatalo sa Boston Celtics sa Game 5 para matapyas ang kanilang series lead sa Eastern Conference finals sa 3-2, ngunit iginiit ni center Bam Adebayo na buo pa rin ang kanilang
kumpiyansa.
Ang Miami ay angat sa 3-0 sa series bago ang dalawang sunod na kabiguan na nagbukas ng pintuan para sa unprecedented comeback para sa Celtics.
Wala pang koponan ang nagwagi sa isang best-of-seven playoff series mula sa 3-0 deficit subalit tutungo ang Celtics sa Miami para sa Game 6 sa Sabado na tangan ang momentum.
Ayon kay Adebayo, nanguna sa scoring na may 16 points habang nalimitahan si Miami star man Jimmy Butler sa 14 points, hindi nawala ang kanilang kumpiyansa sa backto-back defeats.
“Why would we lose confidence? When we started this journey, nobody believed in us.
Everybody thought we were going to be out in the first round.
Everybody thought we were going to be out in the second round.
And now we are here one game away. For us, we’ve always had confidence, and that’s not going to go away,” aniya.
Tila kontrolado ng Miami ang serye nang tambakan ang Boston, 128-102, sa Game 3, subalit natalo sa sumu- nod na dalawa.
Minaliit din ni Miami coach Erik Spoelstra ang epekto ng pagbabago ng mo- mentum sa kanyang koponan.
“Who cares about mood? We have a gnarly group. I think so much of that is overrated. It’s a competitive series,” sabi ni Spoelstra
“You always ex- pect things to be challenging in the Conference Finals. One game doesn’t lead to the next game. Based on all the experience that we’ve had, it doesn’t matter in the playoffs. It doesn’t matter if you lose by whatever.
We beat them by whatever in Game 3. It just doesn’t matter.
It’s about collectively preparing and putting together a great game.
We’ll play much better on Saturday. That’s all we just have to focus on right now,” dagdag pa niya.
Ang paglalaro ng mas mahusay ay tiyak na magbibigay ng mas maraming oportunidad kay Butler laban sa depensa ng Boston na naging epektibo sa paint.
“Our offense was disjointed a little bit. We weren’t able to initiate our offense, get the ball where we needed it to go in
spots where you could operate. If we can get Jimmy in his comfort zones and strength zones more consistently, he’ll be just fine,” ani Spoelstra.
“We’ll work on that…but collectively, we do have to play with more intention and force and poise offensively, which we’re fully capable of doing.”
Subalit ang Celtics, na dalawang beses na nakaiwas sa pagkakasibak, ay may bagong pagkakaisa na nakita sa court.
“Game 3, that was as low as you can be,” wika ni Jayson Tatum, tumabo ng 21 points at nagbigay ng 8 rebounds at 11 assists noong Huwebes.
“Obviously, our defensive intensity, being connected on the defensive end, that showed these last two games, and then offensively I think guys are just relaxed, knowing we have this uphill battle to overcome. But I really feel like guys have just taken a deep breath.
“In that locker room after Game 3 was the lowest you can be, and I think everybody just kind of relaxed, honestly,” aniya.
Kung maipupuwersa ng Celtics ang Game 7, lalaruin ito sa kanilang home court sa .Lunes
