Jayson Tatum, Celtics Eliminate Heat from NBA Playoffs as Fans Debate Title Candidacy

Jayson Tatum, Celtics Eliminate Heat from NBA Playoffs as Fans Debate Title Candidacy

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The Boston Celtics officially have their revenge for last year’s Eastern Conference Finals.

Boston finished its 4-1 first-round win over the Miami Heat with a commanding 118-84 victory in Wednesday’s Game 5 at TD Garden. While it was stunned by the eighth-seeded Heat in last season’s series, there would be no repeat performance this time around.

Jayson Tatum is the star and notched a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds, but he actually took a backseat at times while Derrick White (25 points and five rebounds on 5-of-10 shooting from deep) and Jaylen Brown (25 points and six rebounds) impressed.

Bam Adebayo led the way for the shorthanded Heat with 23 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals, but it was nowhere near enough to counter the Eastern Conference’s top seed.

The game was never in doubt, so fans were more interested in debating Boston’s championship aspirations:

Both teams were dealing with injury concerns with Kristaps Porziņģis sidelined for Boston and the combination of Jimmy Butler, Terry Rozier and Jaime Jaquez Jr. out for the Heat. Even without their big man, that still left the Celtics with far more firepower.

And it was on full display in the early going as White caught fire from deep and poured in 15 points in the first quarter alone. It was just a matter of time before Tatum and Brown also got in on the scoring fun, and the game was all but over before halftime as the home team jumped out to a commanding lead.

There was only so much the Heat could do without their go-to option and other key contributors, although the deficit would have been even larger were it not for Adebayo consistently scoring in the lane.

Yet Adebayo went cold in the third quarter as the game continued to slip away for the visitors.

It wouldn’t have made a difference if he continued to play at the same level as the first half. After all, White continued to stuff the stat sheet, Brown aggressively attacked the basket and Boston maintained full control even without Tatum turning in a dominant scoring performance.

The Celtics likely started turning their attention to the second-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers or Orlando Magic before the final whistle. They will also face more difficult challenges as the playoffs continue, especially with Porziņģis dealing with an injury.

But they looked every bit the part of a title contender Wednesday.