If Game 1 of the ECF felt rather familiar, there’s good reason for it.
We really had one poor quarter that hurt us.
“It was strictly from a physicality standpoint.
It wasnt anything different that they did.
They just came out and imposed their will.
Joe: We won three out of the four quarters.
We lost one quarter because we dropped our sense of urgency.
It was the exact same shit.
The Celtics got what they deserved last night.
It was a collective failure from the coach down, and I’m not really sure that’s debatable.
They lived through that entire series, so they should know what to expect.
They should know that the Heat tighten things up in the second half of games, especially late.
That’s the annoying part.
By now, we know the Celts only take the hard road.
That’s just the reality.
When given two options, they will never take the easier one.
I don’t understand it, but that’s just who they are.
They are a team that fucks up, watches the film, corrects it, and then responds.
I say it in basically every blog win or lose, so I will say it again here.
This is Game 1.
Joe is going to have to be much better as a coach.
It’s a collective effort.
We have a lot to get to, so let’s just dive right in.
The first half was pretty much exactly what you could have wanted to start this series off.
When they had to lock in defensively to end the half, they got the momentum stops they needed.
Unfortunately, NBA games are not 24 minutes long.
So that is where we are going to spend most of the focus today.
Tell me if you think this is anywhere close to good enough?
When they fuck around and can’t stop a nosebleed, it doesn’t matter what they do offensively.
Last night they scored 116 and lost.
They put up 115 twice against the Sixers and lost.
They put up 117 and 122 against the Hawks and lost.
In the Playoffs, everything, and I mean EVERYTHING comes down to your ability to get consistent stops.
Game 1 last night was the perfect example.
So what was the problem?
For me, it was both a mix of poor strategy and even worse execution.
Let’s start with Rob.
He just sort of stood around and watched.
When it came to contesting midrange Butler pullups, there was no strong challenge.
He basically let Jimmy get whatever look he wanted.
With Bam, it was the same thing.
How about losing sight of your man because you were ball watching at the rim?
It wasn’t good enough.
From a strategy standpoint, I didn’t love the approach on Jimmy at all.
Moving forward, this team can’t soft switch against Butler.
You need size and length.
The second you soft switch and Butler can pick his matchup, he’s clearly going to burn you.
It goes back to what I said about defense undoing good offense.
You do that by not switching.
- At first, I thought Joe went with Pritchard minutes because Smart got hurt or something.
That proved to not be the case, so that decision was rather odd.
That I just flat out don’t understand.
My guess is moving forward, this is going to be a Grant/Hauser series and not a Payton series.
At least that’s how it probably should be.
- I also don’t really understand why the offensive approach changed in the second half.
To start the third, it was more Jaylen forced offense which helped spark that initial run.
Because the team stopped using their point guards.
I truly don’t understand how someone can have 10 assists in the first half and finish with 11.
Why are you stopping an approach that was clearly working?
For that I look at Joe and I look at the players on the court.
No surprise they paid the price.
- Love missing 7 FTA in a game the Celtics lost by 7.
In the second half, all Celtics not named Jayson Tatum were 3-8 from the FT line.
Smart, a good FT shooter, missed 3 by himself.
Leaving points on the board like that is how you get yourself into trouble.
That shit adds up.
In the first half, the Celts took care of the ball and had a decent lead.
In the second half?
They doubled their TOs (10).
At the end of the day, 15 Celtics turnovers led to 22 Heat points.
Does that sound familiar?
More specifically, it was your two best players.
On one hand, get him the fucking ball.
He went WAY too long basically just running up and down the court without ever touching it.
The 66 points on 54/56%?
The 5-16 from deep?
The 11-16 from the FT line?
Jayson Tatum only taking 4 fucking FGA?
Al throwing up a 0?
Tatum only having 2 rebounds and 0 assists and a -20?
A blown 12 point lead?
All really, really bad.
I find this completely unacceptable.
A spot in the Finals is on the line in case nobody was aware of that.
After the game all the talk was about how the Heat were tougher and more physical.
This wasn’t an Xs and Os situation, this was a toughness situation.
We know what happens when they play that way.
I’ll just remind everyone that a phrase like that is EXACTLY what Bucks fans said.
How did that work out for them?
A total of 25 of their 31 3PA were either open or wide open.
How many times are we going to see the Celts leave a strong side corner shooter?
This is losing basketball so no shit the Heat converted in both of those spots.
That’s usually how those things work.
He’s just 5-26 from deep in his 5 games since.
That is absolutely killer.
How rare was what we witnessed last night?
Well for starters, it was the highest scoring quarter in Heat playoff history.
The last time it happened was 1984.
I guess that year had a good ending, but even still.
What the hell was that?
Pathetic, that’s what.
At the 10:55 mark, Smart made a 3PM to give the Celtics a 71-59 lead.
It was at that moment that things started to go downhill.
The Celts were playing flat, they weren’t getting stops, and momentum started to turn.
This is instance #1 where Joe has to stop the bleeding.
I know it’s early in the quarter, but so what.
Things are officially unraveling.
After another Smart missed 3PA, Strus scored off a great outlet pass from Love.
At this point, the Celts would be down 79-78.
All the momentum with MIA.
A disaster stretch from Joe, no question about it.
But here’s the thing.
Coming out of that timeout, the score was within 1 point.
While Joe didn’t call that timeout, the Celts and their players still got one.
They then closed the quarter by allowing a 24-13 run.
That is not on Joe Mazzulla.
That is on the players.
Timeouts are not some sort of savior, you have to go out and execute.
A perfect example of this was the start of the 4th.
The Celts cut the 12 point lead to 5 and Spo took a timeout (good).
You know what happened next?
The Heat players stepped up (good).
They forced turnovers, they got stops.
From 10:26 when Spo took the timeout to 7:49 left in the 4th, the Celtics scored 2 points.
That is why this was a collective failure.
If you give up 46 points in a quarter, you do not deserve to win that game.
So now we move to Friday’s Game 2, which is basically a must win.
You cannot go down to MIA down 0-2 by dropping both of your home games.
You gave the Heat confidence.
Now unless the Celts are able to punch back, things could get real dicey real quick.
