The NBA Playoffs continue on Sky Sports on Monday overnight with Miami Heat @ Boston Celtics – Game 4, live on Sky Sports Arena & Main Event from 1.30am
Monday 23 May 2022 23:29, UK
The Boston Celtics and Miami Heat are feeling the exertions of a bruising series with a list of players potentially set to miss out and one absentee already confirmed.
For the Heat, Tyler Herro is out, coach Erik Spoelstra has announced pre-game. Jimmy Butler will warm up with the intention of playing, but may still miss out.
Kyle Lowry, Max Strus, Gabe Vincent and PJ Tucker are all listed as 'questionable' heading into Monday night's clash at the TD Garden. The same is true of Celtics pair Marcus Smart and Robert Williams III, although it is being reported that Williams is likely to play as we close in on tip-off.
Six-time All-Star Butler sat out the second half of Miami's 109-103 Game 3 victory with swelling in his right knee. Herro also did not play the final eight minutes of the fourth quarter because of a groin injury.
With Boston's Jayson Tatum (stinger) and Marcus Smart (sprained ankle) also suffering injuries late in Saturday's clash, the Celtics went from a chance to take control of the series to now trying to avoid losing back-to-back games for the first time in two months.
In addition to Tatum and Smart, center Williams III sat out Game 3 with swelling in his surgically repaired left knee.
As expected, Celtics coach Ime Udoka said the trainer's table was busy on Saturday.
"Marcus has some swelling in his ankle. Took a pretty bad sprain. Finished the game, but he's gonna feel it a little more today," Udoka said on Sunday.
"Getting worked on and getting treatment. See how he feels tomorrow. Jayson is fine. It's a stinger that went away pretty quickly. And then Rob has improved. Feels better than he did yesterday. It's day to day. We'll test it out tomorrow and see how he feels."
Tatum (nerve impingement) is probable for Game 4 after going down with 5:18 remaining in the previous clash at TD Garden. The 24-year-old turned the ball over in traffic and fell to the ground as Miami raced back up the court. He remained down when the Celtics got the ball back and went straight to the locker room after play was stopped.
"My neck got caught in a weird position," Tatum said. "I went down and felt some pain and discomfort in my neck and down my arm, and then went to the back, got it checked on, and started to gain some feeling back and got it checked by the doctors and ran some tests and decided to give it a go."
He returned to a raucous reception from the home crowd but was largely ineffective the rest of the way, committing a foul, then committing his sixth turnover of the game. He was just three of 14 from the field with 10 points, six rebounds and four assists.
For visiting Miami, beating back a late-game charge by Boston to preserve a victory and take a 2-1 series lead is an encouraging sign for a Heat team that was 15-10 without Butler during the regular season. The Heat also wrapped up their first-round series against Atlanta without both Butler and Lowry.
Lowry played for the first time in this series on Saturday, finishing with 11 points, six assists and four steals in 29 minutes. He had missed eight of the previous 10 games with a right hamstring injury.
He said it felt good to be back, but acknowledged it was tough to see both Butler and Herro added to their injury list - potentially again leaving Miami at less than full strength.
"Just having an opportunity to be out there with my guys is always fun," Lowry said. "Injuries are a part of the game. That's the part that sucks about the game, the injuries, and this is tough.
"Jimmy is a warrior. Tyler is a warrior. But we have to continue to stay focused on what we did as a group and hopefully those guys will be back and ready to go next game."
The Heat have officially listed Butler (knee), Lowry (hamstring), Herro (groin) Strus (hamstring), Vincent (hamstring) and Tucker (knee) as questionable for Game 4.
Whoever Miami ultimately have available on Monday, Udoka said the onus will be on the Celtics to limit their unforced errors.
Boston turned the ball over a 2022 playoff-high 24 times in Game 3, leading to 33 Miami points. The Heat also had 22 more shots than the Celtics.
"Obviously those things stand out and a lot were us playing to the crowd, trying to do too much and not making the simple pass," Udoka said. "When you look at those areas, we've had some good carryover at times, but at times taken a step back."
Tatum said avoiding what seems to be Miami's magic number of 39 will also be paramount. Miami had a 39-point third quarter to take control in Game 1 and outscored the Celtics 39-18 in the first quarter of Game 3.
"There's no excuse. We can't spot them 39 points in the first quarter. Obviously we were just trying to overcome that the rest of the game," Tatum said. "So we've obviously got to be better starting the game for sure."
The rush of live NBA Playoffs games continues on Sky Sports this week - see the list of games here and subscribe to watch the live action.
