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!
