It wasn’t a secret for the Celtics who they were dealing with in these Eastern Conference Finals. They’ve seen the Heat on this stage three times now in the last four years. They know their identity, their culture. They might not have the talent the Celtics do, but they have the fight to make up for it.
They know this. On the eve of this rematch, Malcolm Brogdon vowed the Celtics wouldn’t let the Heat out-tough them.
They let it happen anyway. And now they have to dig themselves out of another early hole.
Jimmy Butler scored 35 points as the Heat marched into TD Garden to steal Game 1 on Wednesday. The Celtics were in control, until they came out of halftime slow. The Heat were relentless with their emphatic response, producing a huge third quarter and never looked back. The Celtics couldn’t recover and suffered a 123-116 loss.
The Celtics are not facing the Hawks or the 76ers anymore, and Game 1 showed what can happen if they’re not ready for the battle their Eastern Conference rivals will bring to them for 48 minutes every night.
Jayson Tatum scored 30 points to lead the Celtics, but committed three costly turnovers in the final minutes as Boston couldn’t stage a late comeback.
The Celtics, after falling behind by double digits entering the fourth, fought back with a 7-0 run in 94 seconds to start the final period, as Jaylen Brown’s runner forced a Miami timeout. But Butler and the Heat kept punching back. Tatum’s aggressiveness kept the C’s in it but Butler responded with some big shots.
Boston stayed within striking distance but couldn’t get it closer than five until Brogdon was fouled driving to the hoop with 2:31 remaining. But he made just one of two free throws, and Caleb Martin hit a 3-pointer the other way to restore Miami’s lead to seven. On the ensuing possession, Tatum was called for a travel, and after Butler missed the other way, Tatum somehow traveled again.
On Miami’s next trip, Butler’s 3-pointer rattled around the rim and went through the net to give the Heat a 10-point lead with 1:03 to go. There wasn’t enough time for a Celtics comeback.
The Celtics led by as many as 13 in the first half and 12 early in the second, but a combination of poor offensive execution, mental lapses and hot 3-point shooting from the Heat completely turned the game.
Miami turned stops into transition opportunities, and the Celtics let them roll. Max Strus and Kevin Love hit back-to-back 3-pointers. Strus’ putback layup tied the game at 72, capping a 13-1 Heat run. The run was 17-4 when Strus’ reverse layup gave the Heat a 76-75 lead. Miami was doing what it does best, outhustling the Celtics, scrapping and responding with effort.
Meanwhile, Mazzulla never called a timeout in the midst of the Heat’s run as they took the lead and took complete control of the game.
The shooting didn’t hurt either. Strus’ pull-up 3-pointer gave the Heat an 86-80 lead. Butler, Caleb Martin and Strus hit three 3-pointers in the final two minutes of the period, capping a 46-25 quarter and sending the Heat to a 12-point lead into the fourth. Boos followed the Celtics as they headed to the bench.
Other takeaways from the loss:
– The Celtics and Heat, as expected, played a tight game early. Kyle Lowry hit three 3-pointers in the second quarter to push Miami ahead as the visitors kept pushing back. Neither team controlled a lead of more than four before the Celtics started getting some stops and Marcus Smart continued to put on a clinic. The C’s went on a 15-3 run that included four dimes from Smart and a few easy drives for Tatum as they built a 13-point lead. They held a nine-point advantage at halftime after Smart found Robert Williams for a late alley-oop.
Smart finished with more assists in the first half (10) than the Heat had as a team (9).
– The decision to keep Robert Williams in the starting lineup continued to pay dividends for the Celtics. The big man was extremely active early, with three offensive rebounds and two putback layups in the opening four minutes. But he was a little loose defensively early, allowing Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler to score with relative ease in the first quarter as the Heat targeted the Celtics big man on switches.
– After playing significant minutes in just two games in these playoffs, which included the entire fourth quarter of garbage time in the Celtics’ Game 2 blowout win over the 76ers, it was interesting to see Payton Pritchard get the call as Joe Mazzulla’s eighth man off the bench in the first quarter, as Boston went to some smaller rotations. Pritchard played just five minutes and was constantly hunted by Butler defensively.
– The Celtics dominated the paint in the first half, with a 40-16 edge inside.