Los Celtics beat the Heat in Miami to get alone a victory to qualify for an NBA Finals 12 to despus.
Boston, a franchise that has won 17 NBA championship titles, has not played in a Finals since losing in 2010 against the Los Angeles Lakers of Phil Jackson, Pau Gasol, Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest (Metta World Peace), Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum, Derek Fisher, Shannon Brown and Jordan Farmar in a historic series that the Californian franchise won 4-3.
In those historic seven game Pau Gasol averaged 18.6 points and 11.6 rebounds y Kobe Bryant added 28.6 points and 8 rebounds.
In the seventh and decisive game Pau Gasol, who starred in a legendary duel with Kevin Garnetthad 19 points, 18 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks, for 23 points and 15 rebounds from MVP Kobe Bryant.
Notable players from those Doc Rivers-coached Celtics were Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, Rasheed Wallace and Kendrick Perkins.
Joel Embiid offers himself to the Heat: “Miami needs another star”
During the match Joel Embiidpvot of the Sixersappealed to a sense of humor on Twitter to offer himself to the Miami Heat.
“Miami needs another star,” Embiid tweeted.
0 of 15 between Lowry and Strus: a negative record that condemns the Heat
Kyle Lowry y Max Strus They missed all 15 shots they attempted in Game 5 of the series between Boston and Miami.
This combined 0-15 between Lowry and Strus is the worst shooting percentage for two starters the NBA Playoffs have seen since 1971.
Emotional minute of silence in Miami for the shooting at the Uvalde (Texas) school
Ime Udoka: “We put mental and physical pressure on the Heat”
Ime Udokacoach of the Boston Celtics, analyzed his team’s victory in Miami: “We put mental and physical pressure on our rivals. We have a lot of competitive strength, we don’t offer easy baskets. It takes a couple of shots for them to score points and we always have confidence. It’s a big thing to be so close to the Finals despite not playing a good first half. We had a good second half. Tatum and Brown pushed us, we did things well. We know that even when things are not going very well offensively , we can support each other in our defense”.
Al Horford: “We have to keep doing what we’ve been doing”
Al HorfordCeltics pvot, assured that Boston “has grown” during these ‘playoffs’ thanks to the different situations it experienced and affirmed that it must remain true to its “style” to qualify for the NBA Finals.
“It is an experience for us. We live different situations in these ‘playoffs’ and we have grown as a team and each game we learn and try to improve,” analyzed the 35-year-old Dominican player.