Commentary: Smiling through the stress, the Boston Celtics survived another elimination game on Thursday night and shifted the pressure onto the Miami Heat.

Smart set the tone in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals with five steals and 23 points as Boston its series deficit to 3-2 against the Heat.

When we started this journey, nobody believed in us,’ Butler says. ‘Now we are here, one game away. For us, we’ve always had confidence, and that’s not going to go away.’

Four players score at least 21 points and the Celtics prevail over the Heat, 110-97, in their latest must-win situation.

Channeling the famous Red Sox ‘Idiots’ of 2004, the Celtics started a long climb back with a win in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Jayson Tatum scores 34 points and Boston forces Game 5 in the Eastern Conference Finals against Miami with a 116-99 win.

Boston trails Miami 3-0 in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals, and no NBA team has rallied to win the series after losing the first three games.

Joe Mazzulla takes the sword after Boston loses by 26 points to fall behind 3-0 in the NBA’s Eastern Conference finals.

Miami thoroughly dominates Boston in a 128-102 win, taking a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.

The Heat outscored Boston 24-9 to end Game 2 and take a 2-0 series lead after Grant Williams of the Celtics got in the face of Miami’s Jimmy Butler.