Let's be real here: there were way more important (albeit horrifying) things going on in the world-specifically in Washington DC-today than an NBA regular season game between the Celtics (6-3 overall, 4-2 road) and the Heat (3-4 overall, 3-2 home) at American Airlines Arena. I'll take my cue from those two teams though and while they agreed to walk off the floor together in the pre-game warmups, issued a joint statement condemning the Kenosha cop not getting charged for paralyzing Jacob Blake (by shooting him seven times in front of his kids) and today's insurrection at the US Capitol then kneeled during the national anthem, they ultimately chose to go through with the contest. Therefore while it's tough to get too hyped up about anything at this moment, I have to note that Boston came away with a great 107-105 victory in their first meeting with Miami since getting eliminated in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals last September in the Disney World bubble playoffs.
Celtics-Bucks games are usually pretty entertaining these days (see: the season-opener on Dec. 23) and it feels like Celtics-Heat is not too far behind in terms of growing Eastern Conference rivalries. Boston ended their four-game road trip on a three-game win streak and this one featured a little bit of everything. The C's led by as many as 17 points (47-30) in the second quarter and seemed to have things wrapped up with a 10-point advantage (105-95) with only 1:17 left in regulation. Miami was not deterred though as forward/NESCAC legend Duncan Robinson (16 points, 6 rebounds) hit a pair of three-pointers (including a 4-point play) and point guard Goran Dragic added the dagger three-pointer to shockingly knot it at 105 with 13.4 seconds left. Point guard Marcus Smart (9 points, 6 assists, 5 fouls) drove into traffic and his wild layup attempt didn't even hit the rim. No worries though as rookie point guard Payton Pritchard (6 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists) flew in for the offensive rebound and putback that turned out to be the game-winning shot with 0.2 seconds left.
Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (game-high 27 points, 5 rebounds) and shooting guard Jaylen Brown (21 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks) were leaders on the court and then afterwards as they gave a moving Zoom press conference about how they viewed today's latest debacle in DC. Center Daniel Theis (13 points, 5 rebounds) was the only other Boston player to score in double-figures. Heat star Jimmy Butler (team-high 26 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks) looked more like his superhuman bubble self than the hobbled guy from the start of this season dealing with an ankle injury. Thankfully, Boston did a better job on Miami center Bam Adebayo (15 points, 10 assists, 2 blocks) who completely dominated them in that playoff series. Former Celtics goof Kelly Olynyk (11 points, 5 rebounds) got a rare start and wouldn't you know, the Heat did not win. Second-year guard Tyler Herro (8 points, 7 rebounds) starts now for the Heat but he was a non-factor, shooting 2-for-8 from the floor.
Decked out in perhaps the ugliest jersey in NBA history, Miami got off to a slow start, trailing 34-26 after the first quarter and then both teams went ice cold (blinded by the gross court that matched the putrid uniform?) with each scoring 19 points apiece for a 53-45 halftime lead for Boston. They might have all escaped the bubble, but the Celtics decided to bring back one of their staples there: a rough third quarter (getting outscored 35-27) which meant it was tied at 80 and anybody's game heading into the fourth quarter. Coming into this season, I don't think many people (myself included) expected Boston to be a great rebounding team but so far, they have been surprisingly tough on the glass. They grabbed 11 more rebounds (53-42) than Miami including 10 more offensive boards (16-6). Those numbers were illustrated further in both points in the paint (56-40) and second-chance points (21-10) which were two more areas that Boston imposed their will on the home team. The Celtics also had five more steals (7-2) than the Heat.
Boston returns to the empty TD Garden on Friday (7:30, NBC Sports Boston) for their first matchup with the new-look Wizards (2-6). Washington traded point guard John Wall to Houston for point guard Russell Westbrook a few weeks before this season began. As always, Westbrook has put up gaudy numbers while shooting guard (and Tatum's St. Louis buddy) Bradley Beal dropped a career-high 60 points tonight in a crazy 141-136 loss at Philadelphia (7-1) but that hasn't resulted in many wins yet. Washington obviously doesn't even pretend to play defense and Boston can be guilty of that as well from time to time so if you are a betting man, hammer whatever the over is for that sure-to-be high-scoring affair.
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