Another edition of one of the NBA’s most contentious contemporary rivalries has come and gone as the East’s top-seeded Boston Celtics have dispatched the Miami Heat after five games. Boston has officially advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals, a feat they’ve accomplished seven times in the past eight seasons.
The Heat looked to be on the way to giving Boston another scare after they stole Game 2 to level the series, but from that point on, the Celtics never looked back.
The series-clinching win was perhaps their best performance of the series. The game was essentially wrapped up before halftime, and Boston’s starters got some rest ahead of the next round as they barely touched the floor in the fourth quarter with the lead surging as high as 37 points.