Kevin Love thinks Heat have a ‘way better game plan’ for Celtics in Game 4
"They did a lot of things on the defensive end that made us uncomfortable."
The Boston Celtics re-asserted themselves at Kaseya Center in Game 3 against the Heat on Saturday night — holding Miami to a season-low 84 points in what was a convincing 104-84 win.
It was a welcome result for the Celtics, who drew plenty of criticism after dropping Game 2 at TD Garden, 111-101, on Wednesday night against a Heat team missing two of its top players in Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier.
Boston will have a chance to build itself a commanding 3-1 advantage in this best-of-seven series on Monday night, but Miami forward Kevin Love hinted that his team has the proper adjustments in place to counter the top-seeded Celtics.
“I think the Celtics inserted their will (in Game 3),” Love told reporters on Monday during shootaround, per MassLive’s Brian Robb. “They did a lot of things on the defensive end that made us uncomfortable.
“On the offensive end, we didn’t take advantage of our ball movement, some of our mismatches and the guys we wanted to attack on that side of the ball. But I think we have a way better game plan (for Game 4).”
Love did not shed more light on what specific adjustments Erik Spoelstra and the Heat plan on making to slow down Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and the rest of Boston’s loaded roster.
Love did try to backtrack some of his comments during the scrum, stressing that Miami’s lackluster showing in Game 3 was more a result that fell on the players, rather than the tactics in place.
“So much of it was mental, it wasn’t even the gameplan,” Love said. “I thought a really great setup of our gameplan, we just didn’t execute. A lot of that was up here between the ears. Just making sure we execute that and let the chips fall. I don’t think that we played as hard as we typically do in (Game 3). I think that just wasn’t our identity and wasn’t who we are.”
It’ll be fascinating to see how Miami carves out a sustainable path toward making this a competitive series. Even though the Heat did steal Game 2 in Boston, they did so by hitting a franchise-record 23 3-pointers — sinking 53.5% of their shots from behind the arc.
Miami might emphasize a steady dose of shots from 3-point range in Game 4 and beyond, with a hot shooting stretch from deep also playing a key role in the Heat’s upset win over Boston during the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals.
Still, the Heat aren’t necessarily a team built for trading 3-point shots, especially against Boston. Miami ranked 19th in the NBA during the regular season with just 12.5 3-pointers made per game, and only connected on 21 total 3-pointers during their losses to Boston in Games 1 and 3.
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