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Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics | Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images
It is far too soon for this level of palpitations.
Alright, after a successful “pilot” article, I am back for more heart rate talk after the Miami Heat ripped mine straight out of my chest.
It’s only Game 2, can you believe it?
Wednesday night was basically the “this is why we play” for people (me) who monitor their heart rate while watching playoff basketball.
The Celtics were awful. After ripping off a 37-4 record at TD Garden in the regular season, they once again let the Heat come in and steal a game in the postseason.
Of course, you know, since they lost, this game didn’t go quite like Sunday’s did. Boston traded punches with Miami early on, but Jayson Tatum was looking strong at the start. His early onslaught calmed me from 68 beats per minute down to just 54.
The Heat then made their presence known, started drilling all of the threes, and ripped off a 15-6 run. While I watched what I didn’t realize was already the beginning of the end, my heart jumped up to 68 bpm again. By the end of the quarter, Boston trailed, and I was still tense at 63 bpm.
To their credit, the Celtics fought and regained their footing at the beginning of the second. A nice steal by Sam Hauser led the basketball gods to reward him with a corner three and me with a drop-down to 58 bpm.
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) April 24, 2024
Miami continued to rain down threes, with Caleb Martin and Tyler Herro bumping me up to 68 bpm and then 71 bpm, respectively.
Things were looking out of hand for the Cs, but Jaylen Brown stepped up and finished the first half on a heater. His 11 points in the final minute-and-a-half claimed me down to 63 bpm.
Boston stumbled out of the gate in the second half. They committed a 24-second violation, gave up some more threes, and then went down double-digits, while I went up to 82 bpm.
Again, the Celtics fought, cut it back down to five, and then shot themselves in the foot. Tatum smoked a pair of free throws in the fourth quarter and got me pumping at 85 bpm. Then Bam Adebayo made one of the billion mid-range jumpers that fell for him tonight and I hit a then-playoff-high 90 bpm.
We got our official playoff-high of 104 bpm minutes later when the Cs did the unthinkable. They left Martin, the king of Heat black magic voodoo, wide open for his fifth three of the night.
In my Game 1 recap, I predicted that I’d hit triple-digits if the Celtics messed around and gave the Heat a bit of unnecessary hope.
Unfortunately, we got to find out that I was right in Game 2.
I’ll be rolling with the heart monitor threads over on Twitter throughout the playoffs. So, if you thought this was funny, follow me over there @SamLaFranceNBA for the latest on my ticker.
Bad three-point defense, Kristaps Porzingis, and TD Garden’s thoughts on Caleb Martin.
After a commanding Game 1 victory, the Boston Celtics got brought back down to earth in Game 2. The Miami Heat beat them at their own game, raining down three after three en route to a 111-101 victory.
Boston’s offense looked sluggish, and their defense failed to adjust to Miami’s new style of play. It was a brutal 48 minutes, but the Celtics are now focused on fixing their problems ahead of Game 3.
Here are three things you might have missed in Game 2.
1. Celtics fumble three-point defense
At this point in the game, Caleb Martin had shot 4/5 from three-point range.
What is this defense?
Derrick White rushes over to help guard the Tyler Herro-Bam Adebayo pick-and-roll, but Kristaps Porzingis stays in the play as well. Jayson Tatum sticks to his guy in the corner, and the result is Jaylen Brown covering two guys on the weak side.
Considering how hot the Heat were from distance, this seems like a pretty terrible game plan.
2. Heat nullified Kristaps Porzingis
This may have been the worst game Kristaps Porzingis has had all season. He finished the night with six points and shot 1/9 from the field and 0/4 from behind the three-point line.
Miami made life hard on Porzingis. As the Celtics were chased off the three-point line, they attempted to use Porzingis as their release valve, a common trend from this year.
But it didn’t work.
“I mean, they did good being physical,” Joe Mazzulla said. “Pushing catches higher. Making it difficult for us to take advantage of those switches. And as you said, that’s been something that has given us a different look on the offensive end. I think when you’re in situations like that, you have to fight for your spacing.
“So, on some of those, we weren’t spaced well. We didn’t hold the hold the seals well. So, just a little bit of everything. We got to be better [at] physically holding seals, make better passes, have better spacing. Just put us in a position to [get to] two-on-ones easier and have better execution.”
Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images
3. TD Garden HATES Caleb Martin
It’s rare that TD Garden hates a player enough to boo them every time they touch the ball. Kyrie Irving is the most obvious example. His history with the organization speaks for itself. The fans hate him.
That’s the treatment Martin got on Wednesday night.
After his hard hit on Jayson Tatum in Game 1, fans booed him every time he touched the ball. His response? Shooting 5/6 from behind the arc. Whenever Martin made a three, he made sure to let the crowd know about it, too, flashing three fingers in their direction.
At one point, TD Garden even started a brief chant that included some profanity followed by the words, “You Martin.”
Needless to say, Celtics fans aren’t Martin’s biggest fans at the moment.
But while all eyes will be on their failure to protect the three-point line, Miami’s own defensive adjustments made a difficult night even harder for the Celtics.
“Obviously, their physicality,” Kristaps Porzingis said at practice on Thursday. “They tried to get up into us. Make every catch [and] every action difficult. But we also got a little bit, I think—because you value the possession so much, we got a little bit stagnant. We just need to play the same way we’ve been playing and not fall into their game too much.”
Mismatch hunting has been a core part of Boston’s offensive game plan all season. Yet the Heat welcomed it in Game 2.
The Celtics enjoyed a three-point barrage of their own in Game 1, so Erik Spoelstra made it a point to slow them down. Their attempts went from 49 to 32.
Photo by Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Rather than allowing Boston to rain down daggers from beyond the arc, the Heat chased them away from the three-point line and welcomed them into the mid-range. They let the Celtics get to favorable mismatches against guys like Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr.
From there, however, the Heat got physical, and the Celtics stalled out.
“Anytime a team is switching and [playing with] more physicality, you have to fight to exploit those with more purpose and with more physicality,” Joe Mazzulla said. “And sometimes, it takes a second or a third layer. And so, it’s just recognizing those second and third layers earlier so that we can get to them earlier in the shot clock.”
As soon as the Celtics caught the ball in the middle of the floor, the Heat sent bodies. Whether it was Bam Adebayo, Nikola Jovic, or Caleb Martin, someone was always ready to stunt and recover.
The Celtics’ response to the uptick in physicality could have been more ball movement. It could have been to fight through it and finish hard. It could have been to set better screens and catch the ball closer to the basket.
But they didn’t react quickly enough. And as Miami sent more and more pressure and the shot clock slowly ticked down, there was nothing left to do but throw up a contest mid-range look at the buzzer.
“Yeah, I mean, disrupt the rhythm,” Mazzulla said on what the Heat did. “Have us start our actions later in the shot clock. I think that’s the test of switching, pressing, aggressive defenses. You got to fight for your space earlier. You got to get into your actions quicker because it may take a second or third one to break down the defense.”
Porzingis saw the bulk of Miami’s suffocating defensive changes.
Going to Porzingis in the post has been Boston’s go-to release valve all season. They get him in a crossmatch, dump the ball to him at the free-throw line, and let him go to work. In Game 2, he didn’t have it.
Photo by Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
The seven-foot-two big man shot just 1/9 on the evening, including 0/4 when guarded by Herro—the mismatch Boston went to relentlessly during their regular-season contests against Miami.
“I think, obviously, fighting to— Anytime [you have] a post entry, you want to get it closer to the basket, so I think it’s all coincided,” Mazzulla said. “I think switching, there’s a reason why people do it. Because it slows you down. It makes the two-on-ones a lot longer to see, and you have to fight for those.
“And so, every layer of that has to be better. The initial screen has to be better. The seal has to be better. Catching the pass closer to the scoring area has to be better. The pass has to be better. So, just those things, they test your discipline to be better at all of those little things.”
Of the Celtics’ 12 turnovers, eight were a result of Porzingis not sealing off his man well enough, failing to body his matchup in the post, or an errant pass (made by Porzingis to trying to force the ball to Porzingis).
Boston’s offense got thrown completely off-kilter in Game 2. They didn’t push to maintain the style they wanted to play. They simply accepted the shots Miami gave them and lived with the results.
Heading into Game 3 with the same lack of offensive fight would be a recipe for disaster for Boston. They’re going to make changes. But they’re keeping them close to the vest.
“Just cleaner looks at everything,” Porzingis said. “Not being as—again, how much do I want to say? I looked at the things I can do better, but overall, there’s no reason for us to overreact.”
Kristaps Porzingis talked offensive struggles, Al Horford stressed the importance of guarding the three-point line, and Joe Mazzulla noted it’s important for the team to not overreact to Miami’s hot shooting.
Fresh off of a tough loss, the Celtics practiced for an hour on Thursday afternoon in preparation for Game 3 of the series against the Heat.
Here are three takeaways from the Celtics’ afternoon practice:
Kristaps Porzingis addresses first real hurdle as a Celtic
Since Porzingis was traded to Boston, it’s been smooth sailing. He had a career-year in the post this season, averaging 20.1 points per game on 51.6% shooting and hitting 37.5% from downtown. He only shot below 49% from the field in one month – March – and enjoyed resounding success on a league-best 64-win team.
Much has been made of him always having a smile on his face, engaging with fans, and thriving with the media, with the understanding that until this point, he really hasn’t faced much adversity as a Celtic.
But in Game 2, Porzingis had one of his worst offensive games in years, finishing with just 6 points on 1 of 9 shooting in the 10-point loss. Notably, he also had a game-worse +/- of -32.
Kristaps Porzingis opted not to talk extensively about specific changes he’s planning on making offensively:
“Just cleaner looks, everything. Again, how much do I want to say? I looked at the things I could do better.” pic.twitter.com/PhqxKaFmyF
He spoke with reporters on Thursday and was slightly more reserved than usual, noting that Miami upped their physicality on him and made every catch difficult, but opting not to detail specific offensive adjustments he plans on making later in the series.
“It’s small margins – us getting a little bit better position, a little bit cleaner looks at the pass,” Porzingis said. “A little better positioning makes a big difference. They did a hell of a job to be honest. And, I didn’t have a good offensive game at all.”
Porzingis said he likes to get away from basketball after a tough offensive game, and Al Horford said he wasn’t concerned about Porzingis’s uncharacteristic struggles.
“KP will be fine,” Horford said. “As far as that goes, I feel like we’ll be a little more organized. He’ll have opportunities. He missed a lot of touch shots that he normally makes. That’s bound to happen. I’m confident that he’ll be good to go on Saturday and he’ll be much better.”
2. Al Horford stressed the Celtics guarding the three-point line better – and badly.
In his five-minute media availability after practice, Horford mentioned the Celtics needed to defend the three-point line better on seven different occasions. Some of that was the result of media questions, but it was evident that the 17-year veteran is stressing a greater defensive urgency to limit Miami’s three-point shooting.
After all, the Heat broke a franchise playoff record of 23 three-pointers – and hit at least 50% on threes for the fourth time in two postseasons against Boston.
“We just have to be better,” Horford said. “We have to be better at defending the three-point line. They shot it, shot a lot of them, a lot of frequency. I know we will be better next game. There will be more of an awareness to that.”
3. Joe Mazzulla wants the Celtics to focus on the things they can control
There are going to be outlier shooting games, but Joe Mazzulla noted there are various things that are always going to be in the team’s hands, not the opponents. That’s what he wants the Celtics to focus on.
“After every game, you have to go back to, “What are the things you can control?” first,” Mazzulla said. “And we can control our offensive execution, we can control our transition defense, and we can control a decent percentage of those threes. And so, that’s the first step.”
Joe Mazzulla at practice today:
“Every game takes on a life of its own. Game 1 and Game 2 were two completely different games. We have to be ready to make those adjustments, whether it’s individual or whether it’s schematic, on both ends of the floor.” pic.twitter.com/gW4PWhVB3K
Against Miami, the Celtics attempted more free throws (21 to 18) and more field goals (80 to 70), and had more rebounds (39 to 36).
“Winning the shot margin from the way that we did – from the free throw line and more offensive rebounds and less turnovers – that’s a recipe for long-term success. So I think that’s the balance of finding where you get better, but also not overreacting, because if you do that, it opens up more to what they’re capable of.”
Bonus content:Here’s Derrick White walking around the Auerbach Center with a jersey tied around his head after practice.
Derrick White is walking around practice with a jersey tied around his head lol pic.twitter.com/r6WR6HO9q8
After an efficient Game 1, Kristaps Porzingis stumbled in Game 2 against the Heat.
Every game in a seven-game series tells a different tale of the larger narrative. In Kristaps Porzingis’ playoff debut with the Celtics, Boston’s big man was storybook, hitting 4-of-8 from behind the arc en route to an efficient 18 points and two blocks in Sunday's blowout of the Heat. You couldn’t write a better start to a championship run.
Three days later in the Game 2 loss, plot twist: Porzingis made just one of his nine shot attempts; his counterpart, Bam Adebayo, owned him in the post and Porzingis finished the game a minus-32.
“Upped the physicality, switching, higher pickup points,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said of Miami’s stifling defense frustrating KP.
The good news is, it’s just one game, one chapter. During the regular season, Porzingis was by far the best post player in the league over his 57 games played. Per Synergy tracking data, he finished in the 96th percentile and scored 1.30 points per possession. To put that into context, Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic finished behind him at 1.14.
But the playoffs are different. Before Sunday, it had been three years since Porzingis participated in the postseason and leading up to April, there has been a steady trend of the officials swallowing their whistles that started in the final quarter of the regular season.
In Game 1, so many of his looks came from outside of the paint. In Game 2, the Heat seemingly invited him to attack switches and mismatches, but made sure that his elbow and block touches came outside of the circle.
Smaller defenders like Caleb Martin and Tyler Herro were able to be a little more handsy with Porzingis in the paint and forced him to take contested long 2s all night with two turnovers.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because we're all familiar with this script from last year. “Different Here” is a catchy slogan for the Celtics’ socials. But for all of the accolades and record-setting offense that resulted in a 64-18 season for Boston, it’s Erik Spoestra and the Heat that seem to understand better just how truly different April, May, and June are in the NBA.
“They did a good job being physical, pushing catches higher, making it difficult for us to take advantage of those switches,” Mazzulla said. “That’s been something that has given us a different look on the offensive end.”
Joe Mazzulla on how Miami was able to hold Kristaps Porzingis to 1-9 shooting:
“They did a good job being physical, pushing catches higher, making it difficult to take advantage of those switches.” pic.twitter.com/Ry0C5zRpGV
Throughout the regular season, Porzingis had been the answer to teams loading up to stop Tatum and Jaylen Brown. He was the ultimate finisher as an ideal pick-and-pop big that could space the floor and roll man who could punish smaller defenders in the post. That didn’t come to fruition on Wednesday night, but alas, the powerful play goes on, and Porzingis may still contribute his verse.
“We have to do a better job of getting him the ball in the right spots,” Jayson Tatum admitted after the game. “We’re gonna do that on Saturday.”
Jayson Tatum said the Celtics knew it wasn’t going to be easy to defeat a Miami team they’ve faced in three of the last four conference finals, while Joe Mazzulla denied a Game 2 loss signals unexpected adversity. That’s because players and coaches have wildly different expectations than pundits and fans.
The Celtics came into Game 2 with an 81.9% chance of winning, according to ESPN analytics. Instead, they lost by 10 to an undermanned Heat team missing two of its four leading scorers.
Kristaps Porzingis, who’s had a historically efficient year from the post, struggled immensely, finishing with just 6 points on 1 of 9 shooting.
Jrue Holiday shot just 4 of 12.
The Celtics were held to 18 third quarter points en route to a loss that the broader basketball community did not see coming.
The response is going to be – and has already been – sensationalized. The Miami Herald’s headline recapping the game reads “Heat shock Celtics” and CBS Sports’ “Miami stuns Boston.”
The Celtics were ‘humiliated,’ according to hundreds at home on Twitter. The unexpected outcome signals that they are ‘frauds.’
The outcry is the result of wildly unrealistic expectations heading into the matchup. Ahead of Game 2, the Heat were 14.5 point underdogs, a stunning line for any postseason game, particularly considering the fact Miami eliminated Boston last season. ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins, while known for his fiery takes, said after Game 1 that there was zero chance for the Heat to steal even a single game in the series.
“The Miami Heat could go 100 percent from the field and 100 percent from the 3, and they’re still gonna get swept in this series,” Perkins said on NBA Countdown.
It’s obviously not a comment that can be taken at face value, but it reflects a broader misunderstanding of the limits of Miami Heat basketball — and of the challenge of winning NBA playoff games.
After suffering a Game 1 blowout, Erik Spoelstra — as he’s done countless times before —made strategic tactical adjustments. Seeing that Jayson Tatum lit them up for 10 assists on the Sunday, Miami moved away from doubling, instead crowding passing lanes, denying Kristaps Porzingis comfortable positioning in the post, and pushing catches higher across the board.
Joe Mazzulla, Jaylen Brown, and Jrue Holiday said at practice this week that they knew a different Heat team would show up on Wednesday, and that was certainly the case.
The dominant narrative entering this series is that Miami would have to outshoot the Celtics in order to have a chance. They did just that, hitting a franchise playoff record 23 three-pointers. The Heat shot 53.5% from beyond the arc, making their fourth playoff game in the past two seasons with 50% shooting from three against Boston – no other team has more than one against anyone.
Media, fans, and analysts can express outrage and shock at the outcome, but the players themselves won’t.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Jayson Tatum said after the loss. “There’s a lot of history between these two franchises, especially recently. Regardless of seeding, or who’s in or who’s out, it’s the playoffs. Especially with that team, it’s never going to go how people expect it to go.”
Jayson Tatum’s assessment of the loss:
“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. There’s a lot of history between these two franchises, especially recently. Regardless of seeding, who’s in or who’s out, it’s the playoffs.”
These two teams have now faced off in four of the last five postseasons. In 2020, Miami took the series in six games in the Orlando bubble. In 2022, the Celtics got their revenge in seven. Last spring, the Heat won in seven.
Many predicted a Celtics sweep, but that’s just not how competition between these two teams has fared over the years. No Jimmy Butler is certainly a roadblock, but Miami’s success has always predicated on the other guys stepping up.
In 2020, it was Goran Dragic who averaged 20.5 points against the Celtics. Last year, it was Caleb Martin putting up 19.3 in the Eastern Conference Finals and capping things off with a 26-point Game 7 performance.
Martin had another big performance last night in front of a hostile TD Garden crowd, finishing with 21 points on 7-12 shooting, while relatively unproven guys like Nicola Jovic (3-4 from three), Jaime Jaquez (3-6 from three) and Haywood Highsmith (3-5 from three) all contributed their fair share. Tyler Herro was the driver of it all, finishing with 14 assists in a playmaking masterpiece.
“Guys are in the NBA for a reason,” Tatum said. “Everybody is capable. There’s a lot of capable shooters out there. Anybody can get hot.”
The results means that the#1/#8 match-up now becomes a best-of-five series between Miami and Boston. The winner advances to the Eastern Conference Semifinals, and the loser goes home. Miami benefits from home court advantage for the series, along with the outside perception of playing with house money.
But Joe Mazzulla does not view the outcome of Game 1 as shocking. All year, he’s stressed that the Celtics aren’t taking anyone lightly, and that no result is guaranteed. That nothing is given.
It’s easy for analysts at home to say anything short of Celtics in 4 is a disgrace due to the talent disparities between the rosters.
Joe Mazzulla on whether it’s good for the Celtics to face adversity:
“It’s unfortunate that losing a game is adversity. The nature of the playoffs is adverse itself. To think your not going to have ups and downs through that run, you’re not being realistic.” pic.twitter.com/jIhTqmEVgX
But to the people on the inside, that’s just not the case. The 2008 Celtics famously went to 7 games in the first round against the 8th seeded Atlanta Hawks. Mazzulla and his staff have studied that playoff run and countless others in order to embrace the understanding that the path to winning it all has looked different for every NBA champion.
“It’s unfortunate that losing a game is [considered] adversity,” Mazzulla said. “It’s just the nature of the playoffs. It’s adverse itself. To think that you’re not going to have ups and downs throughout a run, you’re not being realistic.”
A combination of bad defensive execution and ridiculous Miami shot-making led to Boston’s demise on Wednesday night.
Three-point variance. That’s how the Boston Celtics took down the Miami Heat in Game 1.
Boston poured in 22 three-pointers to Miami’s 12, creating a 30-point gap in a game they ultimately won by 20. And if it weren’t for a 7/9 Heat surge from distance in the final frame, the difference would have been even greater.
Threes were a primary point of emphasis during the two-day break between games. Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra knew that some of the math had to chance.
“I understand the math to it: You don’t want to lose in a certain area by 30 points,” Spoelstra said via ESPN. “It’s probably going to require some balance because we’re not going to bring them down to 25 [attempts], and we’re not going to shoot 50 of them — that’s not realistic.”
After Game 2 on Wednesday, the eeriness of that last line cannot be overstated. It was prophetic.
In Game 2, the Heat attempted 43 threes to the Celtics’ 32. Had Spoelstra chosen a less hyperbolic phrasing, he may have predicted Wednesday night’s exact outcome.
Photo By Winslow Townson/Getty Images
Miami did more than jack up 43 threes, though. They made 23 of them.
The record for most threes made in a playoff game is 25.
Their 53.5% shooting from distance is the sixth-best percentage in playoff history on at least 35 three-point attempts. Number three? Game 3 of the Celtics-Heat Eastern Conference Finals last year when Miami shot 19/35 (54.3%).
“I tip my hat off to the Heat,” Jaylen Brown said after Game 2. “They shot the ball incredibly well. They put up more three-point attempts than we did tonight. They played with pace. They played faster. That was their response. They were able to get some good looks and knocked a lot of them down, which was tough.”
Over the past two seasons, the Heat have recorded four games against the Celtics where they shot 50% or better from beyond the three-point arc.
The most any other team has against a single opponent is one.
One.
Miami’s three-point shooting has been unfathomably elite against Boston.
“It’s a great question. Maybe a coincidence, maybe it’s not. Something that we got to figure out, honestly,” Jayson Tatum said when asked why the Heat shoot so well against the Celtics in particular. “They hit some tough shots tonight from the three-point line, some were open. Maybe some of those easier ones earlier in the game got them feeling more comfortable.
“Sometimes, those tougher shots become a little bit easier when you already got in rhythm. That’s something we’re going to talk about.”
Caleb Martin shot 5/6 from long range. Nikola Jovic went 3/4. Jaime Jaquez Jr. was 3/6 from distance. Tyler Herro nailed his threes at a 6/11 clip. Haywood Highsmith finished the night 3/5 from deep.
Photo By Winslow Townson/Getty Images
Everyone got in on the action for the Heat, but the Celtics made it easy for them. Their defense was so determined to guard the drive—Miami’s main source of offense in Game 1—that they failed to adjust to the adjustments that were being made right under their noses.
“Obviously, their adjustment [was] to shoot more,” Joe Mazzulla said. “So, we’re going to have to find a balance because a lot of those guys that made shots tonight are also good drivers, especially getting downhill. So, we’re going to have to find that balance of making sure we close out appropriately, but we don’t want to start opening up the other side of that. So, that will be the adjustment.”
Boston contested some of Miami’s made threes, but a large majority of them were a result of poor defensive execution and the Celtics’ willingness to live with some guys shooting.
Jaylen Brown let Jovic pull from three in favor of guarding the drives of other Heat players. Al Horford played back on Jaquez Jr., giving him room to pull up in his face. Derrick White and Kristaps Porzingis sent two at the Tyler Herro-Bam Adebayo pick-and-roll, leaving Brown to guard to Heat shooters on the weak side.
Two things need to happen for the Heat to shoot as historically well from three as they did. One, they had to hit an absurd number of shots.
Check.
And two, the Celtics had to remain stuck in the mud in regard to their defensive execution.
Check.
“I think they’re well-coached, and I think that’s a credit to their coaching staff and organization,” Brown said. “They put together a good game plan for them, and they come out feeling confident, and they come out and execute. I think that’s what they do. And tonight was an example of that.”
Photo By Winslow Townson/Getty Images
Basketball isn’t played on one end of the floor, however. The Celtics’ defense left much to be desired, but a lot of their problems stemmed from subpar offense.
The Celtics have hunted mismatches all season long. Their offense was elite because they had so many talented players capable of creating crossmatches. But Miami goaded them into settling.
They let Herro take on matchups that looked juicy for Boston. They let the Celtics go one-on-one more often. They went away from their doubling defense that allowed Tatum to rack up a triple-double in Game 1.
As a result, the Celtics finished far too many possessions with a one-dimensional offensive play style. And when the shots ultimately didn’t fall, they were left scrambling on the other end, as they weren’t able to set their defense.
“When things like that are happening, it puts more pressure on your offense,” Mazzulla said. “Your offense has to be more efficient. Your offense has to be more effective. You have to look at the other side of the adjustment. “
The same can be said about the opposite. Miami’s high-level shot-making allowed them to set their feet on defense. Boston’s high-octane transition attack was whittled down to dust by the Heat’s relentless three-point shooting.
Because of that, the Heat were able to institute their defensive game plan: Take away the three ball.
Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images
After winning the three-point battle in Game 1, the Celtics had the script flipped on them, as Miami constantly chased them off the line and baited them into attacking mismatches on the interior.
“They switched, and they didn’t double as much,” Mazzulla said when asked why the Celtics only took 32 threes. “And they were a little bit later on their shift activity.”
Miami’s 33-point advantage from behind the arc gave the Celtics a taste of their own medicine. Now, Boston will head to South Beach with a whole new world of corrections to account for.
The Heat shot 34.5% on “open” threes (which the NBA defines as when a defender is four to six feet away) this regular season. In Game 2, they spit in the face of that number.
But there is nothing the Celtics can do now but learn and move on.
“I just thought they made a lot of shots that we’re normally comfortable with, but it’s the playoffs,” Brown said. “It is what it is. So, we got to adjust and play ball. So, we got to respond.”
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In addition to the nationally-broadcast NBA games highlighted previously, all other NBA games are broadcast on regional sports networks available in different parts of the country. So if you’re a fan hoping to use a streaming TV service to watch the local NBA team, you must check and see if the package includes the regional sports network with rights to air the games. The internet links listed below are suited mostly to a mobile device. Some streaming providers will allow you to sign in with an email and password from your existing account with a Cable, Satellite, or Telco TV Provider with no additional cost.
It is possible that the NBA with its broadcast partner TNT will offer a free streamed presentation of any particular game, subject to time slot and teams matched up. When checking whether your chosen team is to be streamed for a scheduled game, visit the NBA.com site and find the scheduled matchup(s) found along the pages left column. Locate the "Watch" link to click on which will then present you with a "How To Watch" selection palate to choose from. If it is available you will see Video Streams... Watch TNT offered on the palate to select.
Also, check to see if the TNT Overtime option appears within the NBA League Pass selection box (depending on what teams are playing) which should allow you some free streaming options to select from.
Keep in mind that free streaming may not run as smoothly as a premium video service. Revisiting these streaming sites will help you learn how to best navigate them. Sometimes there are ads to click through. There is a reason why it's free. If the stream is not working properly or lagging, just refresh the page or try another stream channel on the same network. Reddit NBA streams will generally provide a listing of newly activated streams, so check just before game time to find out what's available.
TD Stadium Arena 100 Legends Way, Boston, Massachusetts 02114 Phone: 617-624-1331 Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. https://www.tdgarden.com/
Contact the Boston Celtics NBA Basketball organization Boston Celtics Arena and Headquarters 226 Causeway Street, Fourth Floor, Boston, Massachusetts 02114 Phone: 866-4CELTIX Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. http://www.nba.com/celtics
