So, How About Those Boston Celtics?

Boston's second-half comeback win in Game 5 has them one victory away from a trip to the NBA Finals, an unexpected destination considering their sluggish start to the season.

MIAMI – It all comes down to one game.

One game is all Boston has to win now to achieve what, at the start of the season, seemed too good to be true for Celtics fans.

A trip to the NBA Finals.

Boston’s 93-80 win over the Miami Heat in Game 5 gives them their first lead in the best-of-seven series, with a chance to clinch it and move on to the NBA Finals with a victory at the TD Garden in Game 6 on Friday.

And this win was much like this entire series, with the level of bumps and bruises continuing to stack up for both teams.

It was particularly noticeable early on with Jayson Tatum, who was questionable to play with a right shoulder injury.

Several of his shot attempts early on came up short, a clear sign that the right shoulder injury suffered in Game 4 was still an issue.

Miami had its injury issues to overcome as well.

Tyler Herro (hamstring) missed his second straight game, and Jimmy Butler (knee) didn’t attack the Celtics’ defense with the kind of force and vigor we saw early on in this series.

But both teams have made a point of not making their beaten and battered bodies an issue or talking point in this series.

Instead, they insist that they will soldier on with whatever healthy bodies they have at their disposal.

After a relatively low-scoring first half, the Celtics began to assert control in the third quarter.

Boston opened the third with an 8-0 run to lead 45-42. The score remained relatively close until the Celtics closed out the quarter with a 10-2 run to lead 69-58 going into the fourth.

The Celtics’ strong finish to the third carried over into the fourth with an 8-2 spurt that pushed the Boston lead to 77-60.

Boston would push its lead to as many as 23 points before Bam Adebayo scored six straight.

But it was too little, too late as the Celtics maintained a double-digit lead for the rest of the game.

And now the Celtics’ season, one filled with injuries, illnesses and ill-timed setbacks for the first half of the season, has come full circle to the point where the Celtics are four quarters of good basketball away from the franchise’s first trip to the NBA Finals in more than a decade.

Here are the Stars, Studs and Duds from Boston’s Game 5 win.

STAR:

Jayson Tatum: After a horrendous start to the game where he missed eight of his first nine shots in the first half, Jayson Tatum scorched the Heat in the second with inside-out dribble-drives, mid-range jumpers and of course, a 3-ball thrown in for good measure. He would finish with 22 points, 18 coming in the second half. It was far from being his best performance, but his ability to put his first-half struggles behind him and look more like “Top-5 Tatum” in the second half, was huge in Boston getting the win and with it, control of this series.

STUDS

Jaylen Brown: The turnover-prone ways of Jaylen Brown were on full display in the first half which fueled Miami’s early lead. But Brown was under more control in the second half, and that powered up Boston’s control of the game. Brown would finish the game with a game-high 25 points.

Al Horford: The most consistent player for the Boston Celtics in the postseason, Al Horford was once again, finishing with 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Derrick White: For the second straight game, Derrick White’s aggressive play offensively was instrumental in Boston getting the win. White, who came off the bench with Marcus Smart back in the lineup, had 14 points to go along with five assists.

Bam Adebayo: Aside from a stretch about midway through the fourth quarter, Bam Adebayo was once again a non-factor for long stretches. He would finish the game with a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds, but most of his numbers came after the Celtics had assumed control of the game in the second half.

DUDS

Kyle Lowry: Among the big-name players in this series, there wasn’t a bigger disappearing act in Game 5 than Kyle Lowry. He would finish the game with zero points, missing all six of his shot attempts. He was even worse as a playmaker, turning the ball over three times without registering a single assist.

Jimmy Butler: Credit the Boston Celtics defense for mixing and matching defenders all game on Jimmy Butler in order to try and slow down his ability to impact the game for the Heat. But it’s hard not to look at him and not believe that the inflammation in his knee that flared up in Game 3 of this series was still giving him problems. He had a very un-Jimmy Butler-like game, scoring just 13 points on 4-for-18 shooting from the field.

And now, one more thing from...me!

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