Celtics

Celtics’ ugly Game 2 loss to Heat was, hopefully, just an anomaly

Miami may be without Jimmy Butler, but they are as unafraid of this situation – and the Celtics – as ever.

By Chad Finn

April 25, 2024

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Don’t know about you, but I’m going to choose to think of the assorted annoying plot twists and eventual outcome of Game 2 of the Celtics’ first-round series with the Heat as an aberration.

An outlier. A one-off. A cannot-be-done-again.

And it probably is all of those things. But this is also true: There’s too much history – and too many recent examples of the Heat power-dribbling past all expectations — to say it with total confidence at the moment.

The Heat – the disciplined, sneaky, undermanned, extremely well-coached Heat – evened their first-round series with the Celtics at a game apiece with a 111-101 victory Wednesday night at TD Garden.

Of course they did. We should have known. I swear the Heat exist to make everything difficult for the Celtics, even in the years, like this one, when the green are clearly superior.

On Wednesday, the Heat did it in the most unexpected way for them, and in a way that was so often part of the winning formula for the Celtics during their 64-win regular season: With a barrage of made 3-pointers.

The Heat buried 23 of 43 three-point attempts, the most in a playoff game in franchise history and fourth-most ever by any team in the postseason. It goes without saying that it was their season-high in made 3s.

The Celtics, meanwhile, shot just 12 of 32 from 3. There is no chance the Celtics ever thought they could be beaten at their own game in such a manner.

“They put together a good game plan, they feel confident, and they execute,’’ Jaylen Brown said, who led the Celtics with 33 points, including 15 in the final four minutes 17 seconds of the first half. “I just thought they made a lot of shots that we feel comfortable with, but it’s the playoffs, it is what it is. We’ve got to respond.”

The Heat’s long-distance shooting was such an outlier that it would be practically irrational to expect it to happen again. Nikola Jovic, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Caleb Martin, and Haywood Highsmith combined to drain 16 of 21 3-point attempts, while Tyler Herro was an offense unto himself, with 24 points (including six 3s) and 14 assists.

It’s not sustainable or repeatable over a series … well, probably not. But what it represents is what should trouble Celtics fans who, after the home team’s 20-point victory in Game 1 Sunday, were justified in daydreaming of exorcising this nemesis in a similar way to how they swept Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and the Nets in the first round two years ago.

Now? It’s plausible that this unfolds like the first-round series against rookie Al Horford and the Hawks in 2008, when the eventual champion Celtics needed seven games to dispatch of a lesser opponent.

The Heat aren’t going to torch the Celtics from 3-point turf with such volume and accuracy again. But this Celtics loss was a reminder that Erik Spoelstra – the best coach in the NBA for some time now – always has his team ready, and his players are malleable enough to adjust to whatever the next scheme is that he cooks up to frustrate the Celtics.

The Heat might be shorthanded, with Jimmy Butler, the cold-blooded embodiment of the Heat, out with a knee injury. But they are as unafraid of this situation – and the Celtics – as ever.

Two years ago, the Celtics beat the Heat in seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals – winning the clincher in Miami – and yet that series is mostly remembered for the wild ending, when Butler missed a pull-up 3 that would have stolen the series after a late-game Boston meltdown.

Last year, the Heat took the first three games from the Celtics in the conference finals rematch. The Celtics, showing some resilience, won the next three before falling in Game 7 after Jayson Tatum rolled his ankle.

In the offseason after that disappointment, Brad Stevens, the Celtics’ president of basketball operations, enhanced the roster in all the right ways, adding Kristaps Porzingis from Washington in a trade for beloved but erratic Marcus Smart, then acquiring Jrue Holiday – a better and more conventional version of Smart – from Portland.

It cannot go unstated that Holiday and particularly Porzingis were not good in Game 2. Holiday, perhaps weary from getting constantly clobbered on Bam Adebayo’s picks/lead blocks, shot just 4 of 12 and had as many turnovers as assists, 2. He’s an admirable player and his versatility serves as the bond for the starting five, but the Celtics need more stability in Game 3 and beyond from the only player on the roster with a championship ring.

Porzingis was just objectively bad, as cold from the field (1 of 9 overall, 0 for 4 from 3, and a minus-32) as the Heat were collectively hot. Miami made him work for every inch of space and doubled him often as soon as he got the ball, but mostly he just missed makeable shots. He’ll be better in Game 3, even if Spoelstra hits him with another wrinkle Joe Mazzulla and the Celtics didn’t anticipate.

The Celtics will win this series. Possibly in five games, probably in six. They’re the more talented and well-rounded team. The Heat won’t shoot like a roster of Steph Currys again, and the Celtics’ supporting cast will play better.

But the Heat reminded us of who they are Wednesday night. A team that never goes quietly. That never lacks for a plan of attack. That savors being a nuisance and a nemesis, and never doubts itself or shrinks from a challenge.

The Celtics will win this series. It’s going to be excruciating.