Heat guard Gabe Vincent came alive at the perfect time — the playoffs. Nowhere was that more evident than Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals, where the Heat blew the Celtics right out of the building.
Vincent scored 29 points and the Heat took a 3-0 series lead. Teams that take such a lead are 149-0 in playoff history.
“Gabe has been Mr. Reliable,” center Bam Adebayo said, via Brady Hawk of 5 Reasons Sports. “And it’s not just scoring.”
Vincent finished 11-of-14 shooting in Game 3, including 6-of-9 on 3-pointers. Still, there is work to be done.
“It’s the first to four games,” Vincent said. “We’re not satisfied with three.”
- Miami is one away from more than just a sweep. Should the Heat do what everyone now expects and reach the Finals, they will become just the third team to do so after finishing the regular season last in points per game, per ESPN Stats & Info. The 1956 Pistons and 1964 Warriors are the others.
- Power forward Kevin Love was forced to exit Game 3 with a left ankle injury. “We will find out. He says he’s fine,” coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters. “He’s a tough veteran guy.”
- Spoelstra echoed Vincent’s thoughts on finishing the job with a sweep. “We’ll decompress tomorrow,” Spoelstra told reporters, “but we’ll really get our minds right to finish this thing off.”
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