By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Tyler Herro lived up to his name at the fullest to push the Miami Heat one win closer to the NBA Finals. The 20-year-old rookie scored 37 points and grabbed six rebounds as his team defeated the Boston Celtics 112 – 109 in Game 4 to go ahead 3 – 1 in the Eastern Conference Finals.
It was the second-best scoring performance ever in the NBA playoffs by a player of 20 years or younger after Magic Johnson’s 42 points back in 1980. Herro also set a new scoring record for the Heat in the playoffs, passing Dwyane Wade’s previous record of 27.
Among his overall spectacular shooting (14-21 from the field, including 5-10 3-pointers), Herro nailed two key free throws with 14 seconds to play with the score 104 – 107. Jaylen Brown hit three from the charity stripe but Butler kept his team ahead with free throws of his own.
Goran Dragic had his third 20+ game in the series by dropping 22 points. Jimmy Butler added 24 points and Bam Adebayo 20 points and 12 rebounds.
Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 28 points, all of them in the second half. Jaylen Brown had 21 points, Kemba Walker 20 and Gordon Hayward, who became a father for the fourth time last night, 14.
Daniel Theis posted eight points and nine rebounds. Enes Kanter was a DNP.