Boston won Game 4 against the Heat last night handily, 116–99, to avoid what would have been a baffling and embarrassing sweep. A return to the NBA Finals still seems unlikely, but the Celtics at least survived to make it a possibility.

The difference was simple. In the first three games of the series, Boston struggled to connect on three-point shots, making just 29.2% of their shots from behind the arc and a mere 10.3 per game. But they found their shooting stroke last night, hitting 18 of 45 attempts from three (40%), compared to Miami’s 8-for-32.

The Celtics were among the NBA’s best three-point shooting teams this season, averaging 16 made threes per game, second only to the Warriors (16.6). Their three-point shooting percentage was 37.7%, sixth in the NBA. And perimeter shooting carried them through the first two rounds of the playoffs. They shot 40.6% from deep as a team against the Hawks in Round 1 and 38.6% against the Sixers, which makes their struggles in the first three games against Miami all the more puzzling.

“I still think we can shoot the ball a lot better,” Jaylen Brown told reporters after last night’s game. “I think I had some good shots that didn’t go in, but tomorrow, next game is a new game. I feel like as we continue to build confidence, if we keep seeing the ball go through the net, I think we’re going to feel good about ourselves.”

Brown has been at the center of the Celtics’ shooting woes. After shooting a blistering 47.1% from three in the first two rounds of the playoffs, he’s made just three of his 25 three-point attempts this series (12%). He went 1-for-5 last night, so the Celtics have to feel encouraged after they were able to win convincingly despite yet another off night from their second scoring option.

The other deciding factor in Game 4 was Boston’s defense. After allowing 120.7 points per game in the first three games of the series, the Celtics—owners of a top-five regular-season defense by opponent points per game—limited the Heat to 99 points. It was just the second time this postseason that Miami was held under 100 points.

A Celtics comeback would still be nothing short of miraculous. No NBA team has ever come back from down 3–0 to win a series. But if there ever was a team capable of pulling off a historic comeback, it’s these Celtics. The Heat have had a remarkable run. Their wins over the Bucks and Knicks were not flukes, but they’ve been fun to watch this postseason simply because of how unlikely their success has seemed. Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, a bunch of undrafted guys and two aging former champions (Kyle Lowry and Kevin Love) doesn’t really sound like a recipe for success. And yet Miami has made that formula work well enough to be on the precipice of the NBA Finals. But Boston was a much better team during the regular season and was uncharacteristically bad in the first three games of the series. If the version of the Celtics that showed up last night continues to show up for however long this series goes on for, it’s hardly a foregone conclusion that the Heat will be able to close it out.

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The top five...

… things I saw last night:

5. Derrick White’s block and the Celtics’ crisp passing on the ensuing fast break.

4. The standing ovation for Juan Soto in his return to Washington and his long home run in the seventh.

3. The Golden Knights’ pair of goals just over a minute apart in the first period, leading Stars coach Peter DeBoer to pull goalie Jake Oettinger. Vegas won, 4–0, to take a 3–0 series lead.

2. Position player Luke Raley’s strikeout of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on a 50-mph pitch that Guerrero tried to hit to the moon.

1. Guerrero’s thunderous grand slam off a nearly identical pitch from Raley in the following inning. (It was part of a 20-run outburst for the Blue Jays.)

SIQ

Enigmatic pitcher Cletus Poffenberger, who was suspended by the Dodgers after failing to show up for a game this week in 1939, was better known by which clothing-inspired nickname?

Socks
Shoes
Boots
Pants

Yesterday’s SIQ: Three NBA teams have found themselves down 3–0 in a seven-game playoff series and forced a Game 7. Which teams were involved in the most recent series to reach that point?

Answer: The Mavericks and Trail Blazers in 2003. The third-seeded Mavs won the first two games of their first-round series at home before Dirk Nowitzki’s 42-point performance in Game 3 put Dallas on the verge of the second round.

The Blazers responded in Game 4 with a 19-point win before going on the road and riding a big fourth quarter to force the series to a sixth game. Portland got a blowout win at home to arrive at Game 7.

The decider was tight through three quarters with the Trail Blazers up two. But the Mavs’ offense was too good in the final stanza. Only three players took shots (Nowitzki, Steve Nash and Nick Van Exel), going 13-for-17 and outscoring Portland by 14 to win by 12. Dallas ended up making the conference finals after beating the Kings in seven in the second round. They lost to the eventual champion Spurs in six games. —Josh Rosenblat

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