The Miami Heat lost 88-102 in Game 4 of the playoff series. The Boston Celtics managed to take the road win despite some troubles during the game, and it looks like they might be on the way to winning the series. Jimmy Butler is still away from the team with an MCL injury, and the Heat have failed to build on their Game 2 win. It did look like the Celtics were struggling at times, but they managed to get the job done in Miami.
In the fourth quarter, the Heat were already down by 13 points. Derrick White was fouled by Patty Mills and he fell to the floor. The ref called the foul and it was declared as a dead ball. That was when Jayson Tatum decided to shoot the ball from behind the three-point line, with no obvious incentive.
There have been players in the past who have just shot the ball even though it was a dead ball. But Bam Adebayo contested the shot, which left Tatum with a rolled ankle. The Heat defender got a flagrant 1 for this, which sparked some huge controversy online as well.
“I don’t want to make it a bigger deal than what it is”
Jayson Tatum talks about the Bam Adebayo flagrant & Al Horford stepping up to defend him pic.twitter.com/N2bV1OpEhN
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) April 30, 2024
Speaking about the incident, Tatum claimed that he didn’t want to make a big deal than what it already became. The Celtics star was sensational for his team on the night, scoring 20 points and making 11 rebounds.
‘Heat Culture’ meme goes viral for all the wrong reasons after Game 4
But that’s not what went viral recently. Celtics fans took jabs at the ‘Heat Culture’ and questioned the meaning of the term and even bashed the Heat’s “game plan.” Some pointed out that the phrase means “Dirty plays when you’re losing that’s Heat Culture.” Another fan even wrote, “Literally UFC rules they playin on an octagon,” indicating that the Heat players were so aggressive that it could be perceived as mixed martial arts.
It’s LITERALLY NOT A JOKE #HEATCulture is LITERALLY UFC RULES THEY PLAYIN ON AN OCTAGON pic.twitter.com/JjRxMgiWXJ
— mr.perfect 🍀 (@emswym) April 30, 2024
Dirty plays when you’re losing that’s Heat Culture baby
— Xanny DeVito (@trevorstweetss) April 30, 2024
F*ck it,
Updated “Heat Culture” highlights:
— CelticsUnite (@CelticsUnite18) April 30, 2024
For the third game running it’s time to bring this out again#HEATCulture pic.twitter.com/HdsBKnAxRA
— Dan (@Dan__220) April 30, 2024
Another fan claimed that if a player is in the air and Caleb Martin fouls him, that’s “Heat culture.” This brings back memories of what happened between Martin and Tatum at the end of Game 1. The Heat player was accused of shoving Tatum when he was in the air. It could have ended badly for the Celtics player, but only Martin would know for sure if that was intentional.
Derrick White hails fans for viral ‘Let’s Go Celtics’ chant at Heat’s arena
It is not every day that we see the away team coming in and performing like the Celtics did. They are undoubtedly one of the strongest contenders this season, and that’s even with an injury-prone Kristaps Porzingis.
🗣️ “Lets Go Celtics” chants in Miami
TD Garden South pic.twitter.com/VO3xsHdsqq— Alex (@Alexzachary305) April 30, 2024
When they faced the Heat at the Kaseya Center, Celtics fans started a ‘Let’s Go Celtics’ chant that was pretty loud. So much so that they managed to overshadow the Heat fans that were present in their arena.
The road team has won 10 of the last 13 matchups between the Celtics and the Heat 😲 Derrick White reacts to the stat and gets ‘let’s go Celtics’ chants in Miami with @tvabby
Catch the full interview tonight on Celtics Pregame Live starting at 6:30pm 📺 pic.twitter.com/6c9gOiFF8a
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) April 29, 2024
Derrick White addressed this and mentioned that the Celtics fans “are the best.” The player certainly put on a show for his franchise and its fans, scoring 38 points. He was undoubtedly the star of the night, which is surprising to see considering the Celtics’ star-studded roster including Tatum, Jrue Holiday, and Kristaps.