The Boston Celtics suffered another defeat in Game 3 and are on the verge of elimination. The Celtics lost 128-102 in Game 3 and are now 3-0 down in the Eastern Conference finals. It was not Jimmy Butler who led the charge for the Miami Heat on the night. Rather it was Gabe Vicent, who came up with 29 points and led Miami to a fine win.
It was a horrible day at the office for the Celtics as Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown were the only two starters to finish in double digits. While Grant Williams, Payton Pritchard and Luke Kornet also finished in double digits just to make the score look more respectable.
NBA analysts Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal thrashed the Celtics for being this poor on such an important game. Many people felt that the Celtics have the best roster in the NBA. Some even believed them to be favourites this season. But all of that is history now as they stare at elimination.
During the ‘Inside the NBA’ podcast, both Barkley and Shaq slammed the Celtics for the no-show. “I’m embarrassed as a Celtic fan right now,” said Barkley. “Yeah, that was bad. Beat down, beat down at the beach,” Shaq chimed in.
It was an embarrassing defeat as the Heat almost killed the game in the third quarter after leading by 15 at the half. Celtics committed 15 turnovers and on top of that, they did not have any answer to Heat’s terrific shooting night.
Game 3 MVP Gabe Vincent joined the duo after the match for a short interview. There he mentioned that they should not get ahead of themselves as the Celtics are still a great team and won’t go down that easily.
“Whether we’re home or on the road it’s gonna be a battle. They’re a really good team, they are a well-coached team, they got stars and they’re not gonna lay down,” Vincent stated.
However, Barkley was quick to disagree with his statement. He took a dig at the Celtics and replied, “Clearly you didn’t watch the game tonight. Well coached and don’t lay down? Go look at the tape again.”
Both teams will be squaring off again on May 24 and the Heat will have the opportunity to finish it off at home in front of their crowd. It will be a big statement for them and a great embarrassment for the Celtics to get swept in the conference finals. They have not looked switched on in this series and therefore they were dominated by a more well-rounded team.
