Bam Adebayo has arrived and the Miami Heat win Game 3 to take a 2-1 series lead

This game had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish as the Miami Heat overcome incredible odds to defeat the Boston Celtics 109-103 in Game 3 to take a 2-1 series lead.

Incredible heart and effort allowed them to overcome the right knee inflammation to their superstar Jimmy Butler, which kept him out of the second half of this game and some questionable officiating. Bam Adebayo heard the noise and decided to have his best game of the playoffs. He finished with 31 points on 15-of-22(!) shooting to go with 10 rebounds, six assists, four steals, a block and one turnover and was the best player on the court tonight. From the very beginning he was imposing his will on the Celtics and getting whatever he wanted. He looked like a man possessed with his aggressive drives and using his speed to make Al Horford irrelevant. Just what we needed from him and let’s hope it’s here to stay.

Credit needs to be given to the defense as they made things very uncomfortable for Jayson Tatum all night. He finished with just 10 points on 3-of-14 shooting, six rebounds, four assists and SIX turnovers. PJ Tucker had the primary assignment on him and did an incredible job of getting physical with him without fouling and forcing him into traffic, but even when the Celtics were able to get a switch the Heat made sure close the space and help on drives. With all the attention on Tatum, this allowed Jaylen Brown to take advantage and he certainly did as he finished with a game-high 40 points on 14-of-20 shooting and nine rebounds. He did however commit seven turnovers and if you haven’t noticed a trend than I got you. The Miami Heat broke a franchise playoff record with 19 steals tonight. Three different players had four steals and I already told you about Bam, but Victor Oladipo and Kyle Lowry came up huge in this game and we don’t win this game without their contributions. Lowry set the tempo from the very beginning and showed the impact he can have on both ends when he’s relatively healthy. He had to go back to the locker room multiple times to make sure his hamstring was warm in between breaks. He was there when it mattered and he came up with the steal of the game as he stole the inbound right from Marcus Smarts hands, and proceeds to throw a dime to Max Strus for the clutch basket. Lowry was just a warrior all night and came up big when it mattered most. Oladipo didn’t play in the first half and was essentially out of the rotation, but a Butler absence in the second half meant an opportunity for Dipo to come up big for the Heat and he did on the defensive end. It took him some time to get settled, but he locked up Tatum and Brown at various key moments in the second half when it felt like the Celtics were going to get back in this game.

I also need to mention that Tucker came into this game dealing with a bruised knee and aside from his incredible defense was also able to give us 17 points, seven rebounds, three steals and a block. So glad this man is in a Heat uniform and contributing to playoff wins.

Honestly, I’m on cloud nine after watching this team pull off an incredible road playoffs win, as we Heat fans should be, so I don’t want to get into the negatives, but I need to. Tyler Herro was another no show today. He just doesn’t look comfortable out there and there were multiple times through out this game where he had a negative impact. He finished with just eight points on 4-of-15 shooting, two rebounds and three assists. On top of that, he was getting hunted by the Celtics on defense and his lack of strength was being exposed. It forced head coach Erik Spoelstra to take him out and put Oladipo in for his defense and ball handling. Not a good look for someone eligible for a contract extension in the offseason and the fact of the matter is Herro has been consistently the worst performer for the Heat in these playoffs and he needs to pick that play up to give the Heat a different dimension to their offense.

All in all this was a huge road victory for your Miami Heat and a gigantic step towards the ultimate goal of winning a championship. The fact that they showed they could withstand the adversity and win this game without Butler answers the questions we had coming into this one. So, I’m all smiles, the Heat will be back at it on Monday at 8:30pm in TD Garden for Game 4 and they will need another huge effort if they want to stun the basketball world with back to back road wins against the darling Boston Celtics. Let’s get it!