Marcus Smart opened up about the incident in the Celtics locker room after Game 2 and how the Celtics have grown from the experience
The Boston Celtics are back in their Eastern Conference finals series vs. the Miami Heat, but there's still plenty of work to be done.
Down 2-1, Boston and Miami have four days off before they take the court for Game 4 on Wednesday night. The break comes at a less-than-ideal for the Celtics, who are coming off a momentus, bounce-back victory.
But is the long layoff really anything to be concerned about? Which team will benefit most from the break?
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Chris Forsberg, A. Sherrod Blakely, and Kyle Draper covered that and much more in a brand new Celtics Talk Podcast.
Celtics Talk Podcast: After Game 3 victory, are the Celtics winning this series versus Heat? | Listen & subscribe | Watch on YouTube
Forsberg came away confident with how the C's responded, but notes that the long wait for Game 4 could be a real factor for both teams.
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"During the broadcast they put up the number, teams that win Game 3 after being down 2-0 still only go on to win like 12 percent of the time. But it's weird 'cause I feel like I'm a little bit more than 12 percent confident in the Celtics based on the way they played. But again, you can't get too content after just kind of grinding out one win," Forsberg said.
"I'm really eager to see how all these teams bounce back with this weird break in the middle where after playing every other day it's just so bizarre to sort of hit the pause button for this long."
Blakely: Five key adjustments the C's made in Game 3
Blakely noted a couple of other stats that may or may not be received well by C's fans, while also noting just how bizarre the long layoff is between Games 3 and 4.
"It's a weird break in the middle but even the analytics surrounding this series are bizarre," Blakely said. "There's that stat I think it's like 90 something percent of teams that win Games 1 and 2 go on and win the series and yet, the last two teams to come out of the East to get to the Finals were down 0-2. So whatever numbers that work for you and your narrative, they got you covered.
Lastly, Draper was asked whether he believes the C's are back in this series and will come out firing in Game 4.
Blakely: Is small ball lineup a game-changer for the Celtics?
"Yeah, I think they're back, but I'm not going to be fooled by the banana in the tailpipe with the Celtics. I need to see it, right? As soon as I jump back on board and think they're ready to rock 'n' roll, they come out with a flat outing," said Draper. "Let's not forget after the buzzer-beater against Toronto we go, 'Oh Game 4 they're going to be fired up and ready to go.' And what happened? They lost that game.
"So I look at it two ways. If Jaylen Brown and the Celtics set the tone defensively like they did in Game 4, they'll win. With that being said, I felt like Miami sort of went through the motions. This was not the same Miami Heat team we saw the first two games. ... The thing with these games, I don't think there's a whole lot of carryover."
Also discussed on the new episode: Will Jimmy Butler be more aggressive in Game 4? What defensive adjustments do we expect out of the Heat? Why have the Celtics struggled to maintain big leads? And why hasn't Brad Stevens used Robert Williams?
Check out the latest episode of the Celtics Talk Podcast on your favorite podcast app or watch it on YouTube below.
