The Celtics gave Miami the 3-point line in Recreation 2 they usually received burned – CBS Boston

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By Matt Geagan
April 25, 2024 / 10:02 AM EDT / CBS Boston
BOSTON — Not once more, Boston Celtics. Please, not once more.
When the Celtics landed the Miami Warmth as their first-round opponent within the NBA playoffs, it was speculated to be lots totally different from final postseason, when the 8-seeded Warmth upset the Celtics within the Japanese Convention Finals. The Warmth have been as soon as once more an 8-seed, however these Celtics weren’t going to fall into the identical pitfalls that doomed final 12 months’s crew.
Kristaps Porzingis is within the combine this time, and provides Boston the proper weapon to fight Miami’s zone protection. Jimmy Butler is harm and never round to guide the Warmth. And there’s no manner the Warmth can be as lethal from downtown as they have been in final 12 months’s matchup, when Miami hit 50 p.c or higher from deep in three of the seven video games. The Celtics needed to have discovered one thing from final postseason, proper?
Possibly not. The Warmth took the Celtics’ sport plan from Recreation 1 — when Boston tied a franchise file with 22 makes from 3-point land — and shoved it proper again of their faces in Wednesday night time’s Recreation 2. Miami broke its franchise file for 3-pointers in a sport, draining 23 of its 43 makes an attempt from downtown in a surprising 111-101 victory at TD Backyard.
The Celtics gave the Warmth the 3-point shot for almost all of the night, shading off shooters to guard the rim. And Miami’s shooters made them pay, hitting eight of their 15 threes within the first, tying the franchise file for 3-point makes in 1 / 4. The Warmth had made 13 threes by halftime, surpassing the 12 they made in Recreation 1.
Someway, the Celtics held a three-point lead at halftime. However Miami was scorching out of the half too, hitting six of their 9 threes within the third quarter. The Warmth outscored Boston 27-18 within the body, and the Celtics could not get better within the fourth.
Very similar to final postseason, it was Miami’s function gamers doing the flame throwing. Caleb Martin not often missed, hitting 5 of his six triples. Rookie Jamie Jaquez Jr., a 32.2 p.c 3-point shooter through the common season, went 3-for-6 from deep. Nikola Jovic may have made a killing with all of the downtown actual property the Celtics gifted him Wednesday night time, however as an alternative used it to go 3-for-4 from 3-point vary. Haywood Highsmith was 3-for-5 from three for Miami off the bench.
Tyler Herro led the cost for the Warmth, hitting six of his 11 threes for twenty-four factors. He had his finest play-making sport as properly, handing out a game-high 14 assists.
Erik Spoelstra acknowledged that the Celtics have been going to provide them the three-point line on Wednesday night time and used it in opposition to them. 
“It’s a must to take them, primarily based on how they have been enjoying us the primary two video games,” Spoelstra mentioned. “I didn’t wish to get annihilated in that division like we did the sport earlier than.”
The Warmth weren’t an excellent 3-point crew within the common season, touting the NBA’s nineteenth finest proportion from deep. It is comprehensible that the Celtics would go in with a sport plan to allow them to strive from deep.
However when it grew to become clear that the Warmth weren’t going to overlook, Joe Mazzulla ought to have stepped in and made an adjustment. That by no means occurred, and the Warmth continued to get clear and open seems all through the loss.
The Celtics have been probably banking on the Warmth cooling off in some unspecified time in the future. Everyone knows that Mazzulla is an analytics man, and the numbers most likely pointed to a 3-point regression from the Warmth.
Did he neglect about final 12 months? We have all carried out our greatest to black out these nightmare video games when the Warmth made it rain from deep, however the Celtics ought to have discovered from these. That schooling was lacking Wednesday night time.
It was not simply Miami’s 3-point taking pictures that sank the Celtics in Recreation 2 — and introduced again visions of final postseason’s disappointing finish. There was manner an excessive amount of iso ball on offense, and although Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown mixed for 61 factors, nobody else actually received going. Porzingis was invisible over his half-hour, ending with six factors on 1-for-9 taking pictures and 0-for-4 from downtown, whereas Jrue Vacation was simply 4-for-12 for 9 factors.
The Celtics at the moment are all sq. with the Warmth at a sport apiece because the sequence shifts to Miami for Recreation 3 on Saturday night time. A sequence that was seen as a possible cakewalk for Boston may now develop into a battle for survival, and the Celtics have nobody in charge however themselves.
Matthew Geagan is a sports activities author and producer for CBS Boston and wbz.com. He has been a part of the WBZ sports activities crew for almost 20 years.
First printed on April 25, 2024 / 10:02 AM EDT
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©2024 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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