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Celtics vs. Heat score, results: Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum dominate second half as Boston takes a 3-2 series lead

Benyam Kidane

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Celtics vs. Heat score, results: Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum dominate second half as Boston takes a 3-2 series lead image

The Boston Celtics are one win away from the NBA Finals after a convincing 93-80 road win over the Miami Heat in Game 5.

After trailing by five points at the half, they turned in a strong defensive performance in the second half, outscoring the Heat 56-38 to take a 3-2 series lead.

Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 25 points, while Jayson Tatum added 22 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists. Al Horford provided a spark in the paint, adding 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists. 

Miami's offense fell flat for the second game in a row, shooting just 31.9 percent from the field and just 15.6 percent (7-of-45) from the 3-point line.

Bam Adebayo (18 points, 10 rebounds) and Jimmy Butler (13 points, six rebounds, four assists) were the only Heat starters to finish in double figures. 

Can the Heat rally on the road and force a Game 7?

The Sporting News tracked all the action from Game 5. 

Celtics vs. Heat score

Game 5 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Celtics 17 20 32 24 93
Heat 19 23 16 22 80

Celtics vs. Heat Game 5: Live score, updates and highlights

FINAL: Celtics 93, Heat 80

That's a wrap from South beach as the Boston Celtics dominate the second half to move to within one win of their first NBA Finals since 2010.

11:00 p.m. — The Heat fans are starting to exit the building with Miami down 15 with two minutes remaining. 

10:49 p.m. — Jaylen Brown PUNCHES IT HOME!

Brown has come to life down the stretch of Game 5. He's up to 23 points as the Celtics extend their lead to  89-71.

10:45 p.m — The Celtics are running away with it in the fourth as Tatum caps off an 18-2 run. 

End of third quarter: Celtics 69, Heat 58

The Celtics blow the game open in the third, outscoring the Heat 32-16 to take the first double-digit lead of the game. 

Miami's offense ground to a halt in the third, going just 4-for-23 from the field. Will they respond on their home floor?

10:29 p.m. — Jayson Tatum gets into attack mode for the layup to give the Celtics the biggest lead of the night 67-58.

10:25 p.m. — Kyle Lowry checks out of the game for Gabe Vincent after picking up his fourth foul. Lowry has struggled tonight, with 0 points, 0 assists, one rebound and three turnovers in 21 minutes.

10:17 p.m. — Boston has punished the Heat in transition in the third, snatching rebounds and getting easy buckets. The Heat have to do more on the offensive glass to regain control of the pace of the game. 

10:10 p.m. — Here comes Jimmy Butler. He puts his head down and gets to the rim to give Miami their first field goal of the quarter. Boston leads 49-48.

10:06 p.m. — Max Strus heads back to the locker room. We'll continue to monitor the situation.

10:05 p.m. — Are we sure Al Horford's 35? He takes it coast-to-coast for the and-1.

10:02 p.m. — Marcus Smart picks up his fourth foul early in the third quarter. He stays in the game.

10:00 p.m. — Grant Williams starts the second half for the Celtics, giving them a different look on offense with their perimeter players struggling so far. 

Halftime: Heat 42, Celtics 37

After a scrappy first half, the Heat take a five-point lead into the break. It's the first time in the series that the half-time lead has not been in double figures. 

Derrick White (11 points) and Al Horford lead (10 points) lead the Celtics as their star duo of Brown and Tatum have combined to shoot 3-for-16 from the floor. 

For the Heat, Bam Adebayo is making his presence felt inside. He leads the Heat with 10 points and five rebounds at the half.

9:34 p.m. — Derrick White is keeping the Celtics in this one. He's got 11 points in 11 minutes, finding success working as the roll man in pick-and-roll actions.

9:32 p.m. — The Miami rims have been far from friendly early with both teams struggling from deep. Miami is shooting 3-of-16, while the Celtics have hit just 2-of-11.

9:22 p.m. — Duncan Robinson gets his first triple of the game. It will be interesting to see how much he's used tonight after struggling to crack the rotation, not only in this series but through the postseason. Without Tyler Herro, his shooting could be a big factor for the Heat. 

9:19 p.m. — Robert Williams with the big defensive play!

He covered a ton of ground to get from the paint to the corner to sway Gabe Vincent's 3-point attempt. Nasty.

End of first quarter: Heat 19, Celtics 17

Did someone say defense?

It was an old fashion scrap in the first quarter with Miami taking a slender lead. They shot 9-of-24, while the Celtics connected on 7-of-17 from the field. 

9:12 p.m. — The Celtics did a great job in Game 4 limiting their turnovers to just nine. Through the first quarter, they've already turned the ball over six times, with Jaylen Bwon accounting for four of them. 

9:03 p.m. — Oladipo fights through traffic for the layup to give Miami their first lead of the night 15-14. 

Notably, that's the first lead change in the series since the first quarter of Game 2 to and just the fifth lead change of the entire series. 

9:00 p.m. — BAM ADEBAYO!!!!

Bam soars in off the Butler miss for the emphatic putback. After a sluggish outing in Game 4, Adebayo is off to a strong start at home. 

8:52 p.m. — After missing their first six shots of the game, Jimmy Butler gets the Heat on the board.

8:50 p.m — It's been a frantic start to the game for both teams as Robert Williams III gets things going with the first two baskets of the game. 

Pregame

8:00 p.m. — The Heat will start with Kyle Lowry, Jimmy Butler, Max Strus, PJ Tucker and Bam Adebayo.

7:58 p.m. — Marcus Smart returns to the starting lineup, alongside Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, and Robert Williams III.

7:00 p.m.: The Heat announced that Tyler Herro (groin) is out for Game 5. Herro also missed Game 4 due to a groin strain.

7:00 p.m.: The Celtics announced that both Marcus Smart (ankle) and Robert Williams III (knee) will be available for Game 5.

What channel is Celtics vs. Heat on?

  • Date: Wednesday, May 25
  • TV channel: ESPN
  • Live streaming: Watch ESPN | Sling TV

Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals will air on ESPN. Viewers can also stream Game 5 on Watch ESPN and Sling TV.

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Celtics vs. Heat start time

  • Date: Wednesday, May 25
  • Time: 8:30 p.m. ET | 5:30 p.m. PT

Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals will tip off around 8:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, May 25. The game will be played at the FTX Arena in Miami, FL.

Celtics vs. Heat schedule, TV channels

Here is the full schedule for the 2022 Eastern Conference Finals.

Date Game Time (ET) / Result TV channel
May 17 Game 1 Heat 118, Celtics 107 ESPN
May 19 Game 2 Celtics 127, Heat 102 ESPN
May 21 Game 3 Heat 109, Celtics 103 ABC
May 23 Game 4 Celtics 102, Heat 82 ABC
May 25 Game 5 8:30 p.m. ESPN
May 27 Game 6 8:30 p.m. ESPN
May 29 Game 7* 8:30 p.m. ESPN

*If necessary

Benyam Kidane

Benyam Kidane Photo

Benyam Kidane is a senior NBA editor and has been covering the league for The Sporting News since 2016. In his spare time you can find him watching Allen Iverson highlights on repeat.