Jayson Tatum reacts the narrative that other teams can “out-tough” the Celtics in a playoff series
Some thoughts after the Boston Celtics completed a gentleman’s sweep of the Miami Heat in the opening round of the 2024 playoffs:
Careful what you wish for
Two weeks ago, Heat fans were chanting, “We want Boston,” and some Celtics fans were fretting the potential of having to see the Heat to start Boston’s title quest. It turns out Miami might have been the ideal first-round matchup.
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Sure, Game 2 didn’t feel great, but it was about the only pain point as Boston otherwise dominated an annoyingly familiar opponent. Drawing the Heat felt a bit like the start of the 2022 run when the Celtics famously declared they weren’t a track team and wouldn’t run from anyone. They swept Kyrie Irving and the Nets out of the playoffs that year and ignited their trek to the title stage.
The Celtics showed obvious growth in the way they handled this Heat series. They didn’t panic after Game 2 and simply elected to play harder. They won twice on the road and, more importantly, closed out the series at home on their first chance, instead of letting an opponent linger. A Celtics team that has steadily refused to take the easy path made sure it didn’t prolong the inevitable this time around.
That’s encouraging progress. Boston’s approach throughout this series was impeccable. Outside of the Game 2 downshift, this team was laser focused.
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Because of that, Boston quickly exorcised some Miami demons that have lingered for the past half decade. Even with Kristaps Porzingis sidelined after departing Game 4 with a calf injury, the Celtics should be brimming with confidence emerging from Round 1 and this team ought to feel confident about their potential for success in the East semifinals.
Some might fret the absence of any close games in Round 1. One of the big lingering questions with the Celtics entering the playoffs was how they would respond in crunch-time games. But there’s absolutely nothing wrong with building 25+ point leads in every single one of your victories. The Celtics can cross that crunch-time bridge when they need to.
The Celtics did their best throughout Round 1 to avoid drama — both when dust-ups occurred and on the scoreboard — and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a business-like dismissal of a rival that everyone is quite sick of seeing.
Derrick White is a superstar
They don’t award an MVP in Round 1 but, if we had to cast a vote, we’d likely give ours to Derrick White.
You can call him a superstar in his role, but we’re perfectly fine just calling him a superstar. He’ll never get the attention of All-Stars like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown — and those two guys being present are a big reason why White can thrive to the level he does — but White continues to be vital to the Celtics’ success.
White put on an absolute show in Game 4 — on both ends of the floor — and then set the tone in Boston's 41-point first quarter to start Game 5. White scored 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the first frame on Wednesday night and finished with a team-high 25 points on 8-of-13 shooting overall.
White played steady defense all series long. Most notably, he limited Tyler Herro to nine points on 3-of-9 shooting with six turnovers and a blocked shot. If Cleveland ends up prevailing in its first-round matchup against Orlando, White could be key to preventing any Max Strus revenge games.
The only surprise with White in Round 1: While he's typically an advanced metrics darling, White had some of the worst on/off splits on the team. This was the rare time when his statistical output went beyond what the advanced numbers might suggest.
Bench still shining
Sam Hauser and Payton Pritchard finished No. 1 and No. 2 in the NBA in net rating during the 2023-24 season and they’re still hanging around the top of the postseason leaderboard.
Hauser posted a team-best +33.4 net rating against the Heat. That’s also the best mark in the entire playoffs among the 116 players averaging more than 15 minutes per game. Pritchard slots fifth in the NBA at +23.8.
With Porzingis sidelined, Boston’s bench brigade needs to infuse a little bit more scoring without sacrificing the efficiency that has been that group's calling card throughout the year.
Hauser, fueled by his lights-out shooting in Game 5, shot 48 percent beyond the arc in Round 1 to finish just ahead of White, who shot a scorching 47.7 percent on 8.8 3s per game. Pritchard had some shooting woes (27.3 percent beyond the arc) but still made good things happen on the court, particularly with his energy and playmaking.
But the unsung hero is Kornet, who, despite playing only 26 minutes over three games, held up well against Bam Adebayo. The NBA’s tracking had Adebayo scoring 12 points on just 5-of-14 shooting against Kornet with two turnovers, a blocked shot, and only one shooting foul.
We’ll stress it again: With Porzingis likely out for the next round, getting solid minutes from Kornet could be vital against either potential second-round opponent, given that both Cleveland and Orlando have deep and skilled frontcourts.
A Boston team that couldn’t always confidently lean on their bench in 2022 is getting early returns to start the 2024 postseason trek.
Perfection
You can’t convince me the Celtics didn’t drop Game 2 intentionally to set up a perfect sendoff for Mike Gorman in Game 5.
With the game and series in hand, not only did Gorman get the spotlight for the final quarter of the game, but a late-game timeout allowed the Garden faithful to deliver another standing ovation. What’s more, it flowed directly into Gino Time inside a celebratory Garden.
Now the Celtics just need to make sure there’s a duckboat parade at the end of this postseason run to give Mike one more magical moment to end his 43-year career.
