Jayson Tatum reacts to the Miami Heat responding in Game 2 and tying the series up.
The most infuriating part of the Celtics’ Game 2 loss — even more maddening than the Heat’s improbable black magic shooting over the past two postseasons when pitted against Boston — was that Miami told the Celtics every adjustment they were going to make after Game 1, then strolled into TD Garden and did exactly what they said.
The Heat shot more 3s. And for the fourth time in the past two postseasons, they connected on better than 50 percent of their attempts from beyond the arc against Boston. No other team has done that more than once against an opponent in that span.
The Heat played more physical. Miami had higher pickup points, switched everything to force the Celtics to reel in their own 3-point output, and cranked up the physicality with Kristaps Porzingis around the basket, leading to his worst game in a Boston uniform.
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The result was a 111-101 Heat triumph that saw the No. 8 seed wrestle away home court advantage as the series shifts to Miami. If that wasn’t enough, an injured Jimmy Butler jumped on social media after the game and further taunted the Celtics with a spin on Jaylen Brown’s “Don’t let us win one” comment after Boston dug a 3-0 hole last season.
Sigh.
Maybe we should have known it would be like this. The Heat are cockroaches, and even with their injury woes, it was probably foolish to expect the Celtics would waltz through this series.
But Game 1 gave hope that this year would be different. The Celtics dominated that tilt from the jump and showcased an obvious talent disparity between the two teams. It suggested that maybe the Celtics had learned from previous missteps and would operate with the sort of focus that championship teams often display on this stage.
That feeling lasted 75 hours. And only because there was more than three full days off between games.
The Heat launched 43 3-pointers (making 23) and gashed a Boston defense that was a step slow throughout Game 2. Second Spectrum data suggested that 37 of Miami’s attempts came were open (4+ feet of space from nearest defender) including 23 wide-open attempts with 6+ feet of space. Miami made 15 of those while setting a team postseason record for 3-pointers in a game.
The number of open looks wasn’t egregiously beyond what Boston typically gives up, especially not considering the higher volume of shots. But Miami shooting 65.2 percent on those wide-open looks was roughly 27 percent higher than league average on those shots. That translates to roughly six additional makes and 18 additional points.
The Celtics seemed content to let Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Haywood Highsmith fire away. Five of the nine Heat players who touched the floor made 3+ threes, including that duo. Caleb Martin got the Kyrie Irving treatment, booed every time he touched the ball after flooring Jayson Tatum in Game 1, and responded by channeling the 2023 version of himself by making 5 of 6 3-pointers. That included a backbreaking 3 after Boston pulled within six with just over three minutes to play.
Will the Heat shoot that well again in this series? Conventional wisdom says no. But we also thought that last year when they shot better than 50 percent three times in a seven-game series.
The Heat got physical with Porzingis as both Nikola Jovic and Bam Adebayo got into his body early and often in Game 2. Porzingis even struggled to exploit mismatches against Tyler Herro, missing all four attempts he took when defended by the small guard. Porzingis finished a staggering minus-32 in plus/minus over 30 minutes of court time while missing 8 of 9 shots.
Bad nights happen, but they get a harsher spotlight this time of year. The Celtics brought Porzingis and Jrue Holiday to Boston to avoid these sort of games. Neither was particularly crisp in Game 2 as Holiday missed eight of the 12 shots he took and didn’t have his usual defensive impact on the perimeter.
Boston’s 3-point defense — or lack thereof — will draw much of the attention, but it was the Celtics’ offense that felt particularly maddening. The Celtics struggled to maintain pace, got caught up hunting matchups, and received little support for their superstars (Jayson Tatum and Brown paired for 61 points on 23-of-43 shooting).
Joe Mazzulla didn’t have his finest night. Despite Tatum making five of his first six shots, Mazzulla elected to stick to his Game 1 substitution pattern and pulled his superstar forward 7:30 into the game. Tatum was 5 of 14 the rest of the way.
The Celtics have had a nasty habit of letting offensive woes creep into the defensive end and they were a half step slow chasing shooters. Mazzulla refused to tinker with the coverage, staying largely in drop coverage even as the Heat consistently generated quality looks.
Despite all the woes, Boston was right there in a two-possession game with three minutes to play. The Celtics couldn’t consistently get stops. The Heat seemed to turn every Boston turnover into points and Miami finished +11 in points off turnovers despite both teams finishing with 12 giveaways overall.
Now comes a 69-hour wait until Game 3. Every one of Boston’s missteps will get magnified. For the second straight year, we’ll wonder how this team will respond having complicated their lives yet again.
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Give Miami credit. This isn’t anything new. Erik Spoelstra is a magician and his teams always give opponents fits, regardless of seeding or player availability.
The concerning part is that Boston just gave the Heat a whole bunch of confidence with this series shifting to South Beach. While Miami isn’t exactly a daunting place to play -- and Boston has had plenty of big moments in that arena in recent years, including winning the Eastern Conference Finals there in 2022 -- the C's have added a layer of complication to this year’s process.
The Heat might eventually get back old friend Terry Rozier, and while Butler isn’t expected to be available this round, the longer this series goes, the more chance you give him to do more than roast you on Instagram.
Maybe this is just a blip. But yet again, we’re left waiting on the Celtics’ response after an unnecessary letdown on their home floor.
Will the Celtics brush off Miami’s hot shooting and stick to their game plan? If Porzingis and Holiday play better, does Boston look more like the team that led wire-to-wire in Game 1?
'Tis the season for overreactions. Boston wins Game 1 and we’re mapping a parade route. The Celtics lose Game 2 and some will tell you their title shots are toast. Everyone knows the Celtics’ ultimate potential and it’s sometimes maddening when they don’t play close to it.
Will they continue to chose the hard path? Or will they show a bit more championship mettle?
“We knew it wasn't going to be easy,” said Tatum. "There’s a lot of history between these two franchises, especially recently. Regardless of seeding or who's in and who's out, it's the playoffs and, especially with that team, it's never going to go how people expect it to go.
"That's the beauty of being in the playoffs and playing at the highest level, it's part of it. We lost the game, we got a chance to play again on Saturday. So should be another good one.”
