The Miami Heat moved one win away from reaching the NBA Finals after they outlasted the Boston Celtics, 112-109, in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference Finals on Thursday morning, September 24.
The Heat now hold a commanding 3-1 series lead as they bounced back from a 106-117 loss in Game 3.
Hot-shooting rookie Tyler Herro led the charge for Miami by firing a game-high 37 points. Jimmy Butler added 24 points and hit some crucial free throws down the stretch that helped the Heat hold off the rallying Celtics.
Goran Dragic finished with 22 points, while Bam Adebayo added 20 points, 12 boards and two steals for the Heat, who lost a 12-point third quarter lead but recovered their bearings in the fourth to seal the win.
The Heat took a 58-46 lead in the 8:51 mark of the third but behind Tatum, the Celtics charged back and trimmed the deficit to just one, 76-77, entering the payoff period.
Tatum scored 16 of his total output in the third.
Boston finally took the lead, 85-84, on a dunk by Daniel Theis with 8:51 left in the fourth.
Adebayo scored on a put back in the next play and the Heat would never relinquish the lead after that.
Jayson Tatum was held scoreless in the first half but still ended up topscoring for the Celtics with 28 points on top of nine rebounds, four assists, three blocks and a steal.
Jaylen Brown added 21 points for Boston, while Kemba Walker, Gordon Hayward and Marcus Smart added 20, 14 and 10 markers, respectively.
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