After a bitterly disappointing game 2 loss at home to Miami, Boston needed to respond and regain control of the series. They did just that with an impressive 104-84 victory over their conference rivals. Kristaps Porzingis redeemed himself after arguably his worst performance yet in a Celtics’ jersey, he scored 18 points, had 5 rebounds, and rejected two shots at the basket. Miami claimed their sole victory so far in the series by nailing a franchise record 24 3-pointers in game two, however tonight was a very different story. Boston closed out on all of the Heat’s attempts from beyond the arc restricting them to just 32% from three, which in the end was the main factor in Boston’s impressive win.
Boston amped up the intensity from the tip off, as they held the Heat to only twelve first quarter points. Tyler Herro and Caleb Martin in particular saw much tighter coverages from Jrue Holiday and Jaylen Brown and their increased defensive effort definitely paid off. Martin was held to just four shot attempts all game and Herro shot just 31% from the field in what was a humbling outing for the Heat’s backcourt pairing.
The Celtics offense really started to roll in the second quarter to support their excellent defence. Boston scored 42 points in the second quarter alone outscoring the Heat by 15 and taking a comfortable 24-point lead into the second half. It was Jayson Tatum who got things going for the Celtics as he scored 13 points in the period. He led Boston in all three major stats (points/rebounds/assists) as well as carrying them to yet another important playoff win.
With Boston comfortably in the driving seat, they were happy to trade buckets heading into the second half. The Celtics maintained a 20+-point lead the entire way through, mainly thanks too Boston’s superb defence. Holiday and Derrick White picked up their opposing matchups at halfcourt and made life very difficult for the Heat’s ballhandlers, they forced 12 turnovers which led to 24 points off those turnovers and was a huge factor in Boston’s game 3 success.
In typical Celtics fashion, they allowed Miami to gain some ground late in the game. Luckily for the Celtics, Jaylen Brown made some timely baskets to keep the Heat at an arms distance. Brown finished the game with 22 points and eight rebounds to help drive the Celtics to game 3 success. Just as it was in the first game of the series, it was too little too late for the Heat, as Boston gained the upper hand in this first round matchup.
Post game Joe Mazzulla spoke to ESPN about the adjustments he made after game two: “We played a little bit harder, we played harder, and we dictated the physicality and the tempo of the game. It’s the simple that you have to do under a high level of success, high level of adversity. I thought our guys did a great job of dictating that tonight”. Boston will be back in the Kaseya Center for game for of the first round on Monday night looking to extend their series league to 3-1.
By Will C
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