Despite losing Jimmy Butler for the second half due to injury, the Miami Heat staved off a Boston Celtics comeback attempt to get the Game 3 win.
The Eastern Conference Finals were tied at one game apiece between the Celtics and Heat after the first two games in Miami. Now the series was in Boston, with the Celtics looking to use home-court advantage.
Despite the Heat losing Jimmy Butler for the entire second half due to right knee inflammation, they were able to hold off a furious Celtics comeback to win 109-103 to take a 2-1 series lead.
NBA Twitter reacts to Heat holding off Celtics comeback to take Game 3
Twitter users reacted to all that happened in Game 3, from the furious comeback attempt by the Celtics, to Boston stars returning from apparent injuries.
Once Butler was ruled out due to injury, the Celtics looked to be heading towards a disaster of their own.
Marcus Smart rolled his right ankle when landing on the court and screamed in pain. Shortly after being helped to the locker room, Smart was seen putting weight on his foot and eventually returned to the court. Then, Jayson Tatum exited to the back with an apparent shoulder injury. He then pulled a Marcus Smart and checked back into the game a little bit later on.
Bam Adebayo had himself a huge game for Miami, as he scored 31 points while shooting 15-of-22 from the field and grabbed 10 rebounds. This is now the second time that Adebayo has accomplished this in the playoffs and he now joins LeBron James (five) and Dwyane Wade (two) as the only players to have multiple 30 points, 10 rebounds and 60 percent field goal percentage playoff games, per ESPN Stats and Info.
Meanwhile, Jaylen Brown had a tremendous performance of his own, as he scored 40 points while making all 11 of his two-point shot attempts.
There are going to be eyes on Butler’s status leading up to Game 4. But, Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes is reporting that Butler’s injury is not serious and that there is a “strong possibility” that he does not miss any time.
Game 4 tips off on Monday, May 23 at 8:30 p.m. ET.