After the Heat took the first two games in comeback fashion, the Celtics aim to bounce back
We’ll see if Marcus Smart’s impassioned locker room speech, in which he came right at his Celtics teammates, has any lasting impact on Saturday night. Boston had double-digit leads past halftime in both Games 1 and 2, but were unable to finish the job in either contest. Miami led furious comebacks with Jimmy Butler as a headliner.
Game 3 features much of the same storylines, but with one major change. Gordon Hayward may make his long-awaited return to the Boston rotation. Hayward sprained his right ankle a few weeks ago. While his return didn’t look probable initially, he’s made significant progress of late and could come back as early as Saturday night. With the Celtics down two games, he’d be called upon to play significant minutes right away.
Hayward had an outstanding season for Boston before his injury, as he averaged 17.5 points and 6.7 rebounds per contest.
Barring a setback in pregame warmups, there’s significant optimism within the Celtics that forward Gordon Hayward (right ankle sprain) will be active to play in Game 3 vs. Miami tonight, sources tell ESPN. After missing a month, Hayward offers a sizable boost for Boston’s bench.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 19, 2020
Game 1, of course, ended courtesy of Bam Adebayo’s memorable block on Jayson Tatum. Tatum took the ball to the rim aggressively, but was unable to finish thanks to Adebayo’s contact-free stuff. Game 2 featured another Heat comeback after the Celtics spoiled yet another double-digit advantage, spurring Smart’s eventual locker room tirade.
How to live stream Heat vs Celtics on reddit
Heat-Celtics Game 3 will be available on ESPN and ESPN3. The broadcast will begin at 8:30 p.m. ET. Should you need other means to watch the game, it can also be watched on the NBA streams subreddit community.