In a series this strange, the simplest explanation might be the best.
For the fourth time in as many games in the Eastern Conference finals, one team blitzed the other, and one of the strangest best-of-seven series in recent NBA memory is somehow headed back to Miami tied, 2-2.
Boston reminded everyone not to make sweeping assumptions after one bad quarter in Game 1 of a best-of-seven series, dominating Miami for all four quarters of a 127-102 win in Game 2.
The Boston Celtics are better with Marcus Smart and Al Horford, as it turns out.
Boston Celtics guard Derrick White will miss Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Miami Heat on Thursday for personal reasons, the team announced.
Miami felt no sympathy for Boston.
The Miami Heat ripped Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals from the Boston Celtics in the third quarter.
The third-seeded Golden State Warriors and fourth-seeded Dallas Mavericks meet in the Western Conference finals. They last met in the first round of the 2007 playoffs, when the "We Believe" Warriors upset the 67-win Mavericks in six games.
The top-seeded Miami Heat and second-seeded Boston Celtics meet in the Eastern Conference finals. It is a rematch of Miami's 4-2 victory against Boston in the same round inside the Orlando bubble two years ago.