It was a tough night for the hot take artists both locally and nationally as the Celtics led from start to finish en route to a 117-106 victory in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals vs. Miami at the Orlando bubble. Trailing 0-2 in the series, Boston simply had to win to at least temporarily save their season and they delivered with their best performance of this postseason (sorry, Game 7 vs. Toronto was a great result but too clunky). Now rather than making vacation plans, the C's get additional time to think about Game 4 which doesn't happen until Wednesday night (8:30, ESPN) thanks to the NBA's wacky schedule. This was only the second loss in the playoffs for the Heat and their first in regulation which has to count for something.
The gameplan for the Celtics was obvious as they went to the basket at will and outscored the Heat there 60-36 (tied for the most in the past 20 postseasons). If you're looking for a good sign as a Celts fan (haha no Heat fans allowed here anyway!), the last two Eastern Conference champions-Cleveland in 2018 and Toronto last year-also trailed 0-2 in the ECF. I'm just saying. This was the first time all postseason that Boston had four guys score 20+ points: Jaylen Brown led the way with 26 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals; Jayson Tatum (25 points, 14 rebounds, 8 assists) just missed out on a rare triple-double; Kemba Walker had 21 points and six rebounds; Marcus Smart added 20 points and six assists. We found out this afternoon that Gordon Hayward (6 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, block) would return after missing over a month with an ankle sprain and while his shot was rusty (2-for-7 from the floor), he made a real impact off the bench in 31 quality minutes.
Bam Adebayo (game-high 27 points, game-high 16 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks) continued to be a force for Miami but luckily, Tyler Herro (22 points off the bench) was the only other Heat to have a solid outing. Jimmy Butler (17 points, 8 rebounds) wasn't much of a factor while Goran Dragic (11 points, 5 assists) and Jae Crowder (10 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists) were both locked down as they each shot a miserable 2-for-10 from the floor. Fake me out 12-year-old sharpshooter Duncan Robinson put up 13 points on four 3-pointers and an ultra rare (for him) free throw. Boston outscored Miami in the first, second and third quarters but their 20-point lead in the fourth quarter was whittled down to five measly points before they closed it out with some Smart free throws (he was 10-of-10 from the line overall!) down the stretch.
The C's led 31-22 after the first and 53-50 at halftime. We held our breath waiting for the inevitable implosion in the third but it never happened as the Celts topped them by a bucket (26-24). The Heat are impossible to put away which coupled with the fact that the Celtics can't close anyone out makes no Boston lead ever safe in this series. Miami outscored them 32-28 in the fourth but thankfully it was too little, too late. Make no mistake, the Green deserved to win as they shot nearly 10% better from the floor (48.2%-38.8%), they pulled down eight more rebounds (50-42), notched six more assists (27-21) and made three more steals (8-5).
Looking at the first three games of this series, Boston has outplayed Miami for long stretches, they have been up by double-digits in every contest and yet they still trail 1-2. In many ways since Game 1 was decided in overtime, they could easily lead 2-1 or even 3-0 but here we are. Tonight was further proof that they have a slightly higher ceiling than Miami when they choose to share the basketball and play their signature lockdown defense. Hayward gives them a boost and he brought more positive news saying that his wife Robin (who is very pregnant with the couple's fourth child) will let him stay in the bubble rather than leave for the birth which would require another quarantine. Miami's last loss came in Game 4 vs. Milwaukee so it's nice that they will be hearing and thinking about this setback for longer than usual. We'll see how they respond to a little adversity but you can bet that they are going to be a notch above this imperfect showing. I'm just happy that the Celtics have more meaningful games to play since if they trailed 0-3, Game 4 would have been more useless than those extra days off.
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