Former Heat PG Gabe Vincent believes the Celtics ‘had something going on’ internally during East Finals
"So much has to go right to win in this league and if you aren’t fully right internally, it shows in different ways.”
The Heat’s takedown of the Celtics in this past year’s Eastern Conference finals was a surprise to many, but one key player in the series noticed a difference from the East Finals a year prior.
Former Heat point guard Gabe Vincent noticed something was off about the Celtics in this past season’s series, in which Miami took a 3-0 lead but needed a Game 7 win after losing three straight.
“I think first off, Boston is a hell of a team and was a hell of a team these last two years,” Vincent said on “The Old Man and the Three” podcast. “[Jayson] Tatum and [Jaylen] Brown raise a lot of havoc for the defense.
“It almost seemed like to me, truthfully, they had something going on over there. Despite our gameplan, so much has to go right to win in this league and if you aren’t fully right internally, it shows in different ways.”
Vincent didn’t say or speculate what he thought that “something” was. However, he detailed a bit on how the Heat took advantage of the Celtics in the series and made sure Boston was able to play to its strengths.
“I obviously don’t know if they were or weren’t right internally but that was kind of the feel I had,” Vincent said. “There were moments of attack, you get the right matchup and you attack. Jimmy [Butler] leading the way with his paint touches and Bam [Adebayo] being aggressive. And, most importantly, we just tried keeping them out of transition. That was a huge one for us. We were not a good transition team at all throughout the whole season. Especially with them, if we can get you into the half-court, we have a chance.
“But if you guys get out and run, Tatum and Brown are each getting 10 points in transition and each of them are going to have 30. And that’s tough. That’s tough to overcome. They can get hot from 3. Tatum is a guy who can have 40 or 50 any night. Same with Brown. So, when they kind of have that offensive firepower and great role players that are leaders in their team in Derrick White and Malcolm Brogdon that are kind of playing a secondary role, that’s what made them so dynamic.”
As many who watched that series could tell, Miami performed better in a few certain areas than it did during the regular season. It shot 47.7 percent from the field and 43.4 percent from 3 in the series, an increase of 1.7 percent and nine percent in those areas, respectively, from the regular season.
More importantly, those numbers were dramatic increases from the Heat’s shooting percentages in the Eastern Conference finals against the Celtics a year prior. Miami shot 41.6 percent from the field and 30 percent from deep as it lost the 2022 East Finals in seven games.
That was one key difference Vincent noticed.
“I think last year, they were better defensively when we lost to them in the East Finals,” Vincent said. “This past year, something didn’t seem as right, whether it was their rotations or connectivity, whatever the case may be. I think any bit of weakness we saw, we jumped on it.”
Even though the Heat shot well in the series, they still were pushed to the brink. After the Heat took a 3-0 series lead, the Celtics won Game 4 in Miami, which Vincent got hurt during, and won Game 5 in Boston handily.
Game 6 was the most dramatic of the series. Following Butler’s three free throws to put the Heat up by one with three seconds left, White temporarily saved the Celtics’ season by tipping in Marcus Smart’s putback at the buzzer to force a Game 7.
The Heat won that decisive game two days later with relative ease, and that’s what Vincent thought would happen.
“We’re definitely winning Game 7,” Vincent said of his first thoughts following the Game 6 stunner. “My first thought was they got bailed out, we’re for sure going to win.”
“The Old Man and the Three” co-host JJ Redick pushed back on Vincent’s remark, saying that the Celtics “kind of bailed you guys out.”
Understandably, Vincent pushed back, citing his injury earlier in the series.
“I rolled my ankle pretty bad in Game 4,” Vincent said. “I felt bad trying to come back. I came back immediately and that thing was like, ‘No, you’re done, man. Have a seat.’ I felt good about Game 4 despite how it was going. With me and no injury, I felt like we would’ve made a good push down that stretch.
“There was no waiver of confidence from me going into Game 7 in terms of our team. Obviously, there’s that slight thing in the back of your mind that you don’t want to be the first team to lose [a series] after a 3-0 lead. I had full faith in our guys.”
If the Celtics and Heat were to meet in the playoffs for a third straight season, Vincent won’t be involved. The point guard signed a three-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers at the onset of free agency.
The Celtics made some changes too, to potentially fix the issues that Vincent mentioned, moving Smart for Kristaps Porzingis being the most notable.
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