The Heat Swept The Two-Game Set With The Celts, Sending Boston To The Play-In Tournament

 

    Much like I was saying last fall and winter about the hapless Patriots, this miserable season for the Celtics (35-34 overall, 21-15 home) has to end and thankfully for us, that will probably come soon. Tonight at the TD Garden, the Heat (38-31 overall, 18-16 away) clinched a playoff spot and in the process, relegated Boston to the gutter I mean the lovely Play-In Tournament next week as the likely No. 7 seed. In their first game knowing that star Jaylen Brown (upcoming wrist surgery) was not going to return to this sinking ship of a campaign, the C's at least tried but even if Brown and Robert Williams (turf toe) were in the lineup, it does not matter. Who could argue at this point that Miami is not simply a better team than them? They took the season series 2-1 and they are playing like a group that is peaking as they head into the postseason (7-3 in their last 10 games) while the Celtics continue to unravel like you read about (3-7 in their last 10 games). 

    Miami's best player Jimmy Butler (13 points) did not even play in the second half after getting poked in the eye by Celtics guard Marcus Smart (10 points, 5 assists) in the second quarter. The Heat are so much deeper than the C's and they also have a cohesive gameplan which is a big advantage over the Celts who often play like they all just met earlier that same day. Heat guard Tyler Herro (24 points, 11 rebounds) single-handedly outscored the Celtics bench (20 points combined) by himself. Steady center Bam Adebayo (7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks) and sweet shooting guard Duncan Robinson both scored 22 points while guard Kendrick Nunn added 18 points, seven rebounds and three steals. For the Celtics, point guard Kemba Walker (game-high 36 points, 7 rebounds), swingman Jayson Tatum (33 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists) and shooting guard Evan Fournier (20 points, 8 assists, 2 blocks) were all very good but nobody else really did anything for the home team.

    It was tied at 28 after the first quarter and Miami led by six points (62-56) at halftime. The Heat started to take over some more in the third quarter (31-23) and they opened up a 21-point lead early in the fourth quarter when backup point guard Goran Dragic (17 points) drained a 3-pointer to make it 105-84. From there, the Celts did their usual window dressing fake comeback thing which makes the final score look more respectable when in reality, it could not have mattered less. This evening was the last home game of the regular season for Boston, now they have three road games in the next five days to fully sort this mess out before the Play-In Tournament begins next Tuesday. 

    Boston is at Cleveland (21-48 overall, 12-23 home) tomorrow night (8, NBC Boston), they go to Minnesota (22-47 overall, 12-21 home) on Saturday (time TBA, NBC Sports Boston) and it ends on Sunday (time TBA, NBC Sports Boston) at Madison Square Garden against the Knicks (38-31 overall, 22-11 home) who are tied with the Heat and Hawks (38-31) for fourth-place in the Eastern Conference with each team having three games left. The Celtics have already lost to the Cavs earlier this season and needed overtime to beat the T-Wolves so I would normally say that they should win those games to get tuned up for next week but let's be honest, it could not matter less at this point. They are going nowhere fast and the off-season needs to happen as quickly as possible.

It's Tough To Win When 1) You Are Down 26 Pts At Halftime & 2) You Allow 130 Pts In Regulation

 

    You've heard of hate watching a TV show or movie, how about hate watching a particular sports team for an entire season? The Celtics (35-33 overall, 21-14 home) have given us so little to be happy about during this extremely frustrating year but in a weird way, I still feel the need to tune into every game since you never know what new yet terrible thing will happen to them. This afternoon on Mother's Day and in their biggest game of the season thus far, they decided to sleepwalk through the entire first half as Miami (37-31 overall, 17-16 away) built a 26-point (!!!!) lead at halftime-79-53. That was the most points that the Celts have ever allowed in a first half in the history of the TD Garden. The second half followed a familiar script as Boston furiously rallied but fell a little short as the Heat won 130-124. The two teams meet again on Tuesday (7:30, NBC Sports Boston) at the Garden with another Celtics loss basically guaranteeing that they'll be in the Play-In Tournament. Ugh. 

    Celtics shooting guard Jaylen Brown missed his third straight contest with an ankle injury and center Robert Williams played 11 minutes before he left with his pesky turf toe injury. As we have seen at different points this season, when Brown or swingman Jayson Tatum (29 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks) are out, the C's struggle to beat anybody. I am a bigger fan of Brown than Tatum but I will say that it feels like they are completely rudderless (in terms of leadership) when Brown is out. I don't care how many points Tatum scores or all the highlight reel plays that he makes offensively, does he help any of his teammates get better? Also, does losing truly affect him or is it just a slight roadblock on his way to more endorsement money and richer deals?

    Even if Brown was playing and Williams was a little healthier (which never happens), I am still convinced that the Heat are just a better club. Miami star Jimmy Butler (now there's a guy that knows how to win and push those around him to be their best) led the way with 26 points, a game-high 11 assists, eight rebounds and two steals. Shooting guard Duncan Robinson (who began his college career at D3 Williams in Western MA) added 22 points, center Bam Adebayo notched 20 points, six rebounds and two steals while the ghost of Trevor Ariza tossed in 19 points and had three steals then point guard Kendrick Nunn scored 12 points. Guard Tyler Herro only played 17 minutes off the bench for Miami but he made them count as he contributed 12 points as well. 

    I keep saying this but the Celts once again wasted shooting guard Evan Fournier's best game in a Boston uniform. He had a game-high 30 points and eight assists. UConn's Kemba Walker added 18 points, six assists and two steals while guard Marcus Smart notched 16 points and two steals but he also had six turnovers which is way too many. The Celtics fell to 3-6 in their last nine games but rookie swingman Aaron Nesmith (16 points) continues to be one of the few bright spots as their world crumbles around them. Center Tristan Thompson grabbed 12 rebounds in 32 minutes off the bench as the de-facto starter once Williams inevitably left for good.

    Tuesday is Boston's last home game of the regular season and with the stakes of it, I hope that Brown can play assuming that his ankle is getting a little better. If he remains out, I give the Celtics not much of a chance at all to win. Unlike them, the Heat are starting to roll (7-3 in their last 10 games) heading into the postseason. They are also healthier than Boston and guys seem to be accepting their roles better. It's hard to feel positive about really anything involving the Celts at the moment since it seems like a dark cloud is constantly hanging over them.

UPDATE 5/10/21: The Celtics just announced tonight that Brown has a torn ligament in his left wrist that will require surgery later this week. In other words, any glimmer of hope that they had of salvaging this wretched season is now officially gone. Fantastic!