8 takeaways as Jimmy Butler helps Heat steal Game 1 from Celtics
Butler finished with 35 points and six steals, continuing an impressive playoff performance.
The Celtics dropped Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals in disheartening fashion to Jimmy Butler and the Heat, falling 123-116.
Here are the takeaways.
1. Well, that was probably to be expected.
One game removed from their best performance of the playoffs — and one of the best individual performances in franchise history by Jayson Tatum — the Celtics got demolished in the second half by the Heat, a tough-minded team that should prove to be more of a challenge than any the Celtics have faced so far.
Jimmy Butler was brilliant, notching 35 points on 12-for-25 shooting with six steals that cost the Celtics dearly. The Heat were unreasonably hot from 3-point range (16-for-31), and they coaxed the Celtics into a paltry 10-for-29 performance which simply won’t win this Celtics team very many games. The Heat got a huge performance from their role players — Kyle Lowry, Gabe Vincent, Max Strus, and Caleb Martin all scored 15 apiece.
And, perhaps most concerning for the Celtics, they turned the ball over 10 times in the second half and looked a little like the team that was wrong-footed and uncertain against the Heat last year as well.
The Celtics can (and should) bounce back. They have more talent than the Heat, and some of the statistical anomalies should smooth themselves out. But every playoff game matters a great deal, and the Celtics — once again — will find themselves fighting for their lives in Game 2.
2. The Celtics were completely out-classed in the third quarter — a disastrous stretch that the Heat won 46 (yes, you read that right: 46!) to 25, erasing a Celtics lead that ballooned as high as 13. When Max Strus buried a 3-pointer at the end of the period, the Celtics were suddenly down double digits and facing an uphill climb in the fourth.
Butler and Strus were the main culprits. Butler finished the period with 12 points and three assists, while Strus added 13.
Joe Mazzulla waited an eyebrow-raising amount of time to call a timeout as the Heat’s offense started to roll downhill and pick up speed — so much so, that fans beseeched him to stop the action and try to staunch the bleeding. When he finally did halfway through the period, the Celtics were essentially down by one (the game was tied, but the Heat had a free throw).
Mazzulla threw a clipboard and told the team to get back into the right mindset, but the damage was already done — immediately afterward, the Heat got an easy layup in transition, and the Celtics made several ugly plays including a completely unforced turnover by Robert Williams after securing a defensive rebound and a brutal lob/shot hybrid by Brown.
Mazzulla’s refusal to call timeouts is a somewhat overstated problem, but still a problem. Our two cents: Call a timeout, save a clipboard.
3. The Celtics started the fourth quarter on a 7-0 run and looked great on the defensive end. Go ahead and take a guess what Erik Spoelstra did immediately.
4. Marcus Smart was at his absolute best in the first half — defending like an angry wasp and stitching the Celtics’ offense together with a series of gorgeous passes. Defensively, he slapped away an alley-oop and helped force an 11-turnover stretch for the Heat. Offensively, he was just 0-for-1 from the floor, but often, the games in which Smart barely shoots are his best ones, and he recorded 10 first-half assists.
Smart helped pick the Heat defense apart when it went zone in the first half, and he cut wide slashes in transition, spreading passes around equitably. He drove into the paint and whipped a nifty pass to Al Horford in the corner for an open triple. He called for the ball in transition and found a cutting Malcolm Brogdon for a layup. And on the Celtics’ final possession before halftime, he found Robert Williams — perhaps his favorite target — with an absurdly accurate lob that led Williams into a two-handed slam.
Smart started the second half hot with a second lob and a made 3-pointer, but that was it. He didn’t record an assist the rest of the way and finished with 13 points and 11 assists.
5. Robert Williams was relatively quiet against the 76ers, although his addition to the starting group seemed to help as the Celtics went back to their double-big lineup from last year. Embiid is a difficult matchup for Williams, who is better as a roaming, shot-blocking menace than as a bruiser who can keep a big center away from the rim.
Against the Heat, Williams looked more at home. He was a dangerous lob threat, and he grabbed four offensive rebounds. His flurry at the start of the first quarter was an encouraging sign. Establishing him as a constant threat to the Heat whenever he is in the game will be essential.
6. One encouraging sign for the Celtics: They blew the doors off the Heat zone in the first half. The Heat have a lot of defensive targets on the floor at any given time for the Celtics, and the zone is an important way to limit the damage.
On the other hand, the Celtics are at their best when they make a lot of 3-pointers, and most of their points came when they attacked the rim. Watching how the Celtics balance the temptation of attacking the Heat’s weaker defenders with getting into the offense that got them here will be interesting throughout the series.
7. Payton Pritchard made an early appearance, which was a bit of a surprise as Pritchard has largely been out of the rotation for most of the season, and completely out of the regular rotation since the playoffs started.
Maybe Joe Mazzulla wanted some extra shooting on the floor and he preferred Pritchard’s ability to handle the ball over Sam Hauser’s pure spot-up ability. Maybe he saw the new CBA and decided he needed to get Pritchard more playoff reps. In either case, Pritchard did very little, and his presence over Hauser and Grant Williams was a little inexplicable.
8. The Celtics missed seven free throws, going 22-for-29 from the free-throw line. They lost the game by seven points. No team expects to have a perfect night at the free throw line, but Smart and Malcolm Brogdon — both of whom are very solid shooters — combined to miss five total. A couple more makes might have tightened the game down the line.
The Celtics will look to bounce back on Friday at 8:30 p.m. Once again, they find themselves in desperate need of a win.
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