TUKURAN, ZAMBOANGA DEL SUR — Igniting the playoffs ring on fire, Miami Heat secures win over Boston Celtics after tying the playoff series with 1-1, while continuous victory sparked for Oklahoma City’s Thunder as they dominated New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday, April 25. 

In a tight match, the Miami Heat evened up the first round of their NBA playoff series to snatch the home-court advantage against the top-seeded Boston Celtics. 

In the West playoff, the first-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder triumphed over the New Orleans Pelicans to take a 2-0 lead heading to Smoothie King Center for their game three. 

Both teams continue their postseason run proving their might and commitment through their victories leading to a thrilling path many will witness and anticipate.  

Miami stuns Boston with Historic Three-point Display 

Hitting a franchise record of 23 three-pointers in 53.5% shooting, the Miami Heat caught up against the Boston Celtics, tying their first-round series at 1-1, with an impressive 111-101 victory. 

Leading over the team’s victory, Tyler Herro stepped up scoring 24 points and 14 assists, hitting six of Miami’s 23 three-pointers, in the absence of their superstar, Jimmy Butler. 

“It was a very good response,” Miami Heat’s coach, Erik Spoelstra beamed.  

“And then we also made some shots. It always looks better when you make shots,” he further exclaimed.  

Team captain Bam Adebayo also contributed scoring over 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Caleb Martin garnered 21 points for the Heat, helping the team to bounce back after a Game 1 blowout.  

“It’s always a good thing if you can get one on the road,” Martin said. “You always look to try to steal one. We were able to do that.” 

Miami leads by five, 55-50, with two minutes left in the first half before Brown hit three straight 3-pointers taking the lead and a buzzer-beater lay up making it 61-58 at the half. 

A 10-0 run was executed by the team, swiftly propelling them to seize an 82-70 lead with just under four minutes remaining in the third quarter, only for the Celtics to subsequently cut the deficit to a mere six points. 

After Boston cut an 11-point lead to six, 102-96, with 3:16 to play, Martin hit a triple and Boston never got as close as two possessions again ending the match, 111-101, favoring the Heat. 

Thunder continues to dominate over Pelicans 

After a successful match in the first game, Oklahoma City Thunder continues to dominate the court as they take the lead over New Orleans Pelicans 124-92, securing the 2-0 lead during their second game of the Western Conference playoffs series.  

Behind the group’s excellence, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 points, with three rebounds, and five assists, which were some of the contributions leading to the team’s triumph.  

Chet Holmgren also added 26 points and seven rebounds while Jalen Williams knocked down 21 points for the Thunder. 

According to MVP contender Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder has remained composed instead of worrying about outside issues such as other highly seeded teams struggling at home. 

“I think it just goes back to us prioritizing winning,” he said. “And all those things are distractions that get in the way of winning. And every night, all 15 of us go to bed and want to win the next game, want to win the next day. And we do everything we can to do so.” 

On the other hand, Jonas Valanciunas scored 19 points while Herb Jones and Brandon Ingram added 18 each for the Pelicans. 

After the Pelicans outrebounded the Thunder 52-44, Oklahoma fought back through its prowess, outrebounding New Orleans 37-35 and holding the Pelicans to eight offensive boards. 

The Pelicans continued to struggle on offense without top scorer Zion Williamson, whose strained left hamstring resulted in an absence during the match. 

Oklahoma City led 63-50 at halftime. Holmgren scored 20 points and Gilgeous-Alexander added 16 before the break. 

After the Thunder extended their lead to 92-74 at the end of the third, they continued their dominance going to the fourth quarter to end the game 120-86. 

“Tough one for us,” Green said. “Give them credit, they took care of the home court. It was a dominant win for them. So, we’ll get home, we’ll regroup and get back after it.” 

Both series will see Game 3 on Saturday night, with the Thunder looking to take an even bigger advantage at 3:30 PM ET in New Orleans and the Celtics looking to take back control at 6:00 PM ET in Miami.