Over the next 3 games, things flipped.
The Celts started to defend, holding MIA to 99, 97, and 103 points.
They took care of the ball, and the shooting had the same sort of split, just flipped.
The Heat finished Game 7 shooting 14-28 from deep (50%).
Every big shot they needed, they made.
The Celts, finished 9-42, which is 21.4%.
This was coming off the 7-35 (20.0%) performance in Game 6.
As we learned last night, that would not be the case.
Especially Game 2 when the Celts were up by 9 with 6 minutes left.
In these 7 games, the Heat had 3 games in which they shot over 50% from three.
And just like that, everything is over.
The dream of a miracle comeback, the pursuit of Banner 18, all of it.
The Good
- I don’t even know what to put in this section.
What does any of it matter?
We don’t have to waste time here.
We can dive into the real meat of this game in the following two sections.
The Bad
- Let’s start with the obvious.
That’s just some all time shit luck.
We’ve seen Tatum get banged up before, and he usually shakes it off.
His durability is one of his greatest strengths.
It changed not just how aggressive he was offensively and what he was capable of, but also defensively.
For the Celts to win this game, they were going to need a big Tatum night.
Maybe not 51 like in Game 7 against the Sixers, but he basically needed to hit his averages.
That’s what makes last night so frustrating.
If the Celts go down swinging with a healthy Tatum, so be it.
Of all the times for a player who never gets hurt to get hurt, I mean god dammit.
This was not a situation where the Celts blew a lead late with a bunch of guys playing well.
Somehow, the Celts shot worse.
While that was a little early for him, it’s not a surprise given what happened earlier.
Being careless with the basketball is certainly high on that list.
Let’s just review the entire series shall we?
That helped the Heat finish with a 17-8 fastbreak point advantage which obviously proved to be pretty costly.
There was Tatum getting his pocket picked by Haywood Highsmith.
There was Smart throwing these passes
basically, the Celts played dumb as shit and ultimately paid the price.
On the other end, the Heat made the Celts pay for almost every one of their turnovers.
Their 84 point total was the first time all season they did not at least break 90.
Don’t worry, it gets more excruciating.
In 6 years together, that had never happened.
That means last night was the first time this team lost a game when they did that.
I’m sick just typing that.
We all knew that was going in.
I keep stressing it, but that’s because it’s true.
That sequence is why you cannot fuck around earlier in a series.
A play here or a play there in a Game 7 changes everything.
I don’t care that Tony Brothers did Tony Brothers shit in that spot.
What makes me mad is that the Celts were even in that position in the first place.
That’s a Celtics problem, not an officiating problem.
Everything about that possession stinks.
He was the one that pushed the ball up the floor (good).
No movement, nothing.
That may as well have been a TO in my book.
Then came the Brogdon missed layup and Martin 3PM and the Heat were off and running.
To me, this was a prime example of not valuing possessions.
you might’t do that in a game like this, even if the score is close at that point.
The Celts ended this series going 16-77 (20.8%) over the final two games.
They finished 28-58 (48.3%).
People joke about a make or miss league, but that was easily the biggest storyline of this series.
- Then of course there’s Jaylen Brown.
Nothing to really say other than it was a complete and utter disaster for him.
In Game 1, it was the 6 TOs.
In Game 2, he went 7-23 (1-7).
For the series, Jaylen averaged 41/16% splits with 3.6 TOs a game.
For me at least, that’s what makes these last two postseason runs so painful.
Of course as a result, you’re going to hear a lot of trade Jaylen Brown talk.
That he’s not worth the money etc.
People are emotional right now and that comes with the territory.
When you play like this, that stuff comes with it.
Something tells me Brad will not be emotional when it comes to what the team ultimately does.
The best path for this team is to still extend him and continue to build.
And just like that, the 2023 Celtics are done.
If you’ve made it this long in the blog, you’re a real one.
For those who followed along all year, I owe my entire life to you.
We went through everything this year together, the highest of highs and the absolute lowest of lows.
So for that, all I can say is thank you.
See everyone in Vegas for the Summer Celts.
