The Celtics had 2 main goals in their first round series against the Miami Heat
1.
Win it quickly
2.
Yes, even the ones where Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier played!
Do I give a shit that the Heat were injured as the Celts completely kicked their ass?
All the Celts did in this series was what was expected of them, which is fine by me.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.
I don’t need anything more from the Celts this playoff run other than just being themselves.
Finally, they can benefit from not playing with their food in a series against an inferior opponent.
Last time I checked, that’s growth.
So this first round isn’t really about the Heat, they stink.
We knew they stunk.
This run is about winning a title, not beating the Miami Heat.
But man did it feel fucking great.
Let’s dive in.
The Good
- New blog rule.
It’s all I’ve known for my entire life.
His voice is at the root of all of our fandom.
The highs, the lows, Mike Gorman has been there through it all.
He wanted to give his guy the best moment possible, and that’s exactly what we got.
Now all that’s left to do is to get Mike Gorman on that duckboat one final time.
What we witnessed wasn’t just dominant, it was historic.
The closer you look, the more ridiculous it gets.
His shooting is not a fluke.
This is not a Heat Game 2 situation where White is randomly hitting these 3s.
This is what he’s done for hundreds of games now.
We’re seeing a player start to enter his NBA prime years, and look at the results.
- As I’ve stated, I do not care who was playing or not playing for the Heat.
As it turns out, maybe Joe Mazzulla’s defensive strategy was correct!
The Celtics didn’t drastically change their defensive strategy after that Game 2 loss.
They made small tweaks and simply were much better at executing the gameplan.
They played with more energy and effort, and the results speak for themselves.
Speaking of Joe Mazzulla, what a series from him.
- Pace, pace, pace.
That’s the name of the game.
When I think about playing with pace, it’s not just the literal act of playing fast.
It’s also about making quick decisions and playing with purpose.
We hear everyone talk about it all the time.
Playing faster, being quicker, and there’s a reason for that.
When the Celts play that way, they are virtually unbeatable.
When they are decisive and play with force, few teams have the defenders/firepower to match them.
But as a fan it’s all I’ve ever wanted.
This is actually the best case scenario.
Tatum was able to manipulate the game while also not having to burn out.
With every dunk or every made shot, you could feel the weight being lifted off Jaylen’s shoulders.
He’s not perfect, but no player is.
Celts won the 2nd chance points battle 11-0, the rebounding battle 56-29, and the 3pt battle 16-3.
When they do all that, they are not losing.
- How about the return of Sam HAUS3R?
I’m not sure Hauser even considered hitting the rim on any of these threes.
His defense is more than playoff capable, and the shooting is a legit weapon.
I also thought Luke Kornet was great in his 18 minutes off the bench.
While his shooting still makes me very nervous, we have to give credit where credit is due.
Jrue Holiday was perfect in this win.
He exposed mismatches against smaller players and played in control the entire series.
THIS is the version of Jrue the Celts will need with KP out.
If he’s going to struggle shooting, fine, but he has to show up everywhere else.
Jaylen is at 32.1% and Tatum at 29.0%.
This matters to me because moving forward, they are going to be playing more talented teams than MIA.
Teams that will actually be able to crack 90.
We all know why he did this too on the opening play of the game.
So how did Bam respond?
By immediately pulling that shit.
Can you imagine if Horford fell into Tatum’s knee there?
Then you also had Tyler Herro with his own bullshit after the whistle in this game as well.
As we’ve seen all series, this is Heat Culture.
This is what they do, and then they make a run at spin it as being tough.
There’s nothing tough about this play from Bam.
- Time for Pritchard to shake this series off.
Not a great matchup for him, but things should ease up.
- We really couldn’t get Jordan Walsh minutes?
He had 6 in Game 4 and 5 last night, which is about 3x too many.
Against a team with a pulse on offense, that’s going to burn this team.
An abysmal 18-27 (66.7%) last night, this is starting to get a little concerning.
Jaylen shot 45% (!!!!!)
from the FT line in this series.
Hell, even Derrick White missed a FT last night and he NEVER misses FTs.
Sure it didn’t burn them in this blowout, but that’s not the point.
The point is in the playoffs, you could’t get into a habit of leaving points on the table.
Things are too important.
And now we wait.
That’s exactly what they look like.
