Boston Celtics booked a place in the NBA Final last night when they defeated Miami Heat to secure a place against Golden State Warriors. Led from the touchline by gaffer Ime Udoka, the Massachusetts club was in the NBA Final after a 12-year absence.
Ime Udoka becomes the first Nigerian manager to be at the NBA Final since its inception and this caused huge national support not only for Udoka but also for the Celtics as well.
The first quarter was end-to-end initially but then Celtics took the game to the Heat and eventually won the quarter by 17-32. The fifteen-point gap was not encouraging for the Heat who knew this was a one-off to the final. The second quarter started off with the Heat dominating and winning it by 32-23 and this made the atmosphere rather tense and engaging. The score was 45-55 in favor of the Celtics but they knew a ten-point gap at halftime was easily recoverable.
The third quarter was what many would call the deciding quarter of the entire game. Heat lost marginally by 26-27, which put the score at 71-82 at the end of the quarter. The court was now filled with so much anticipation and emotion and it seemed an open race with eleven points between both teams going into the final quarter.
Heat scored 21 points in the final quarter whilst the Celtics scored 18 and that put the game to bed at 96-100 to the Celtics who clinched the historic victory over East rivals Miami. It was indeed a game that seemingly could have gone anyway but the Celtics’ first quarter dominance helped them edge out the Florida side.
Ime Udoka becomes the first Nigerian coach to be at an NBA Final after winning the Eastern Conference, otherwise known as the Atlantic Conference. The 44-year-old has been shown lots of love and support from fans in the US and also in Nigeria as they continue to step up preparations for the NBA Final. Jayson Tatum of the Celtics was voted the Larry Bird MVP for his excellent performances during the tourney.
Miami Heat’s Jimmy Butler scored the highest points in the game, with an all-time high of 35 points. Jayson Tatum scored 26 points, the highest for Boston Celtics, with the likes of Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown getting 24 points each. Bam Adebayo of Heat was also a notable performer last night, scoring 25 points but unfortunately, his efforts were not enough for a place in the Final.
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