The journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step.
I knew when Al Horford hit his first shot that the Celtics were going to have a good night. A team I thought was absolutely defeated mentally managed to return to the form which made them great all season. Will they be able to ride the wave, do the impossible, and come back from a 3-0 deficit in the Eastern Conference Finals? Let’s talk about it.
First of all, I loved what I was seeing from Boston early. I’m not sure why it took being down three games to none for some changes in strategy, but it is what it is. Anyway, Boston did an excellent job getting penetration early on in the contest. They also got some good stuff out of their resident superstar Jayson Tatum early on, though not everything was pretty. In Celtics fashion, there were some tough to swallow turnovers, but they really cleaned those things up as the game went along.
I absolutely loved the grit and sense of urgency Boston came out to play with. Like everything, it had to start from the top, and it certainly did. Tatum was doing the little things: crashing the offensive boards, playing smart defense, and getting physical with his defenders. It was awesome! He really seemed to understand the team was going to feed off of his energy, and he decided to bring it.
But Miami was dishing it out as well. The Heat were able to get penetration early on, something they have excelled at all series. Sometimes, it looked like they did so with little effort, which still is a concern for Boston moving forward. Take the play below as an example. Granted, Bam Adebayo was a little handsy with the screen, but this is the playoffs and refs are more likely to let stuff go. Al Horford was so focused on containing the roll threat he essentially let Jimmy Butler merrily saunter into the lane. Stuff like that cannot continue in the series moving forward if Boston hopes to come back.
Both teams showed some things I really like in the opening quarter, though. Other than the aforementioned, Butler tried to get himself going with a nice turnaround jumper over Derrick White from about 17 feet. There were also some things I liked defensively, including Miami blitzing Tatum on P&R like at 4:15. At the 6:00 mark, Miami showed off some of their versatility by turning a Max Strus-Bam P&R into a wide open Kevin Love three ball from the corner. The confusing thing about this sequence in particular is Marcus Smart. First off, why was he on Love in the first place? Well, he guarded the inbound, and Love was the inbounder. But why not switch with White immediately after the pass is thrown? I’d much prefer Smart to be the top help defender. On top of that, he just wandered away from Love (who is shooting 62.5% from three in the series) entirely. These lapses cannot continue. Thankfully, things worked out for the Celtics.
Boston came back with a beautiful sequence of their own a few possessions later. After a 7-0 run by the Heat, Joe Muzzulla called time to talk it over with his team, and they came back with a great answer. It started with a high horns action for Tatum. He was able to get to hit Jaylen Brown in the corner, who then got some penetration on a baseline drive. The defense collapsed (in part to protect against the Robert Williams III roll), Brown found an open Grant Williams in the corner, who found Malcolm Brogdon, who finally swung it to Tatum, who got a nice look after a long closeout. Notice, the whole sequence worked because the Celtics were able to get the ball into the paint. Paint touches in the playoffs are absolutely critical, and if Boston can continue putting pressure on the defense, they will continue to find success.
In the second quarter, I liked Miami going to Bam early, getting him a nice alley-oop against Horford within the first minute of action. Miami actually dominated the paint throughout the whole quarter, in no small part to a steady diet of Bam Adebayo. But I really want to highlight some things on the Boston side. First, I liked Horford going back at Bam almost immediately with a quick trigger three at the 9:50 mark. My favorite moment of the quarter occurred two possessions later though. So all season, Boston has run this play where a swing pass from the wing to the top of the key triggers a double pin-down for players in the corners. It looked like they were setting that up, but they threw in some spice. Tatum set a pin-down for Horford to fly out of the corner, but Horford quickly planted a screen for Tatum to turn the whole ordeal into a pistol action. The play is nearly identical to its original recipe, but it had just enough difference to get Horford an open look from deep. I hope Muzzulla can keep up the creativity. It was hands down my favorite sequence of the quarter. Oh, and just to sweeten the deal, even though Horford missed the shot, the Celtics were still able to get a bucket off an offensive rebound. Chef’s kiss.
That was really the story of the game. Boston just played with grit and desperation. They were also helped by the fact they started hitting their threes. With all that said, what does this game mean for the rest of the series? Are the Celtics going to come back and win the whole thing? If history is anything to go by, I would say the answer is a solid “No.” Once the Celtics got the lead in the 3rd quarter, they never gave it up, but Miami managed to hang around. The Heat also stopped getting into the paint after halftime, and when coupled with their overall cold shooting from deep, points felt like they were coming at a premium. It was ugly, and not the fun, “We’re Miami and we play hard and gritty” kind of way. Some adjustments I’m expecting for next game: more Bam. He took seven total shots in the game. Seven. More baffling is the fact he made four of them, so it’s not like he was getting locked up. He has to keep finding ways to get the ball in the basket. I love it when they get him involved as a facilitator, but he was an All-Star this year who averaged 20.4 points. I also expect the Heat to get into their zone a little more. They deployed it early into the fourth quarter and were seeing success. On the Boston sideline, they still have some things to clean up, particularly on the defensive end. While they looked more like the defensive team we’ve seen throughout the season, there were some holes they will need to plug if they want to keep the dream alive. The Celtics have shown cracks in the façade when it comes to their mental toughness. They cannot allow themselves to get swept up in the emotions of the game again like they did in Game 3. If that happens, they can kiss their season goodbye.
Full Court Dime 