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Boston Celtics (1-1) at Miami Heat (1-1)
Saturday, April 27, 2024
6:00 PM ET
TV: TNT, NBCSB, BSSun
Round 1 Game 3
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub, WQAM 560, Sirius XM
Kaseya Center
The series now shifts to Miami with the Celtics and Heat tied at 1 game
each. The Celtics won Game 1 114-94 behind a 44.9% shooting on 3's.
Miami shot 37 three pointers at 32.4%. The Celtics shot 49 three
pointers at 44.9%. After that game, Erik Spoelstra vowed to change the 3
point discrepancy for Game 2, and he did just that. The Heat won Game 2
111-101 behind some blistering 3 point shooting.
The Heat
averaged just 12.5 threes on 37% shooting during the regular season.
They shot 50% from 3 just 5 times the entire season. In Game 2, the
Heat shot 43 three pointers and hit 54.4% of them. While the Celtics,
who led the league in 3 point attempts during the regular season at 42.5
per game, hitting 38.8% of their 3's, shot just 32 threes in Game 2 and
hit only 37.5% of them.
Most people are saying that this is an
anomaly and that the Heat won't be able to shoot that way again, but
history tells another story. These two teams faced each other in last
year's Eastern Conference Finals. During last season, the Heat
averaged 34.8 threes a game and shot 34.4% from beyond the arc. In the
playoffs, they averaged 38% on 3's. But in the Eastern Conference
Finals, Miami shot above 50% from beyond the arc in 3 games as they beat
the Celtics in that series. So, it's not guaranteed that they won't
shoot like that again.
However, their hot shooting may be
partially the result of the Celtics lack of perimeter defense.
According to NBA Tracking, 14 of Miami's 3 pointers were open and 23
shots were considered to be wide open. Miami shot 65.2% on wide open
shots, which is 27% higher than league average. All but 6 of their
shots were either open or wide open. The Celtics never adjusted their
defense to slow down the Heat's perimeter shooting.
This is the
6th meeting between these two teams this season. The Celtics have won
5 of them. The Celtics won the 3 meetings during the regular season
with one game at home and 2 in Miami. They won the first playoff game
but lost Game 2. The Celtics were 27-14 on the road in the regular
season. The Heat were 22-19 at home in the regular season. Both teams
have had 2 days off since the last game.
The Celtics expects
Luke Kornet to return for this game and will have no other players on
the injury report. The Heat will still be without Jimmy Butler who is
recovering from a grade 2 MCL sprain. Former Celtics, Terry Rozier will
miss his 9th straight game with a neck sprain. Josh Richardson has
been out since season ending surgery in early March. Delon Wright has
been added to the injury report as questionable for personal reasons.
Probable Celtics Starters
PG SG SFPF C
PG: Jrue Holiday
SG: Derrick White
SF: Jaylen Brown
PF: Jayson Tatum
C: Kristaps Porzingis
Celtics Reserves
Oshae Brissett
Sam Hauser
Al Horford
Svi Mykhailiuk
Payton Pritchard
Jordan Walsh
Jaden Springer
Xavier Tillman
Neemias Queta
2 Way Players
JD Davison
Drew Peterson
Injuries/Out
Luke Kornet (calf) probable
Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla
Probable Heat Starters
PGSGSFPFC
PG: Tyler Herro
SG: Caleb Martin
SF: Jaime Jaquez, Jr
PF: Nikola Jovic
C: Bam Adebayo
Heat Reserves
Thomas Bryant
Haywood Highsmith
Kevin Love
Patty Mills
Duncan Robinson
Orlando Robinson
Out/Injuries
Jimmy Butler (MCL) out
Josh Richardson (shoulder) out
Terry Rozier III (neck) out
Delon Wright (personal) questionable
Two Way Players
Jamal Cain
Cole Swider
Alondes Williams
Head Coach
Erik Spoelstra
Key Matchups
vs
Jrue Holiday vs Tyler Herro
In 3 games against the Celtics in the regular season, Herro averaged
23.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game while shooting 49.1%
from the field and 41.2% from beyond the arc. He struggled in Game 1
but, in Game 2, he led the Heat with 24 points, 5 rebounds, 14 assists
and 1 steal while shooting 53.8% from the field and 54.4% from beyond
the arc. The Celtics need to tighten up their defense on Herro once
again in this game. Holiday struggled in the first 2 games, with 15
points on 30% shooting with just 5 assists and 3 turnovers over the 2
games. The Celtics need more from him in this game.
vs
Kristaps Porzingis vs Bam Adebayo
Adebayo
has played well in both games. In Game 1, he finished with 24 points,
6 rebounds, and 3 assists. He shot 55.6% from the field bu was 0-2
shooting threes. In Game 2, Adebayo finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds
and 2 assists while shooting 62.9% from the field and 0-2 on threes.
Porzingis finished with 18 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 2
blocks and was 4-8 from beyond the arc in Game 1 but struggled in Game
2, going 1-9 and missing all 4 of his 3 point attempts. The Celtics
will need more from him in this game.
Honorable Mention
Derrick White vs Caleb Martin
In
last year's Eastern Conference Finals Game 7, Martin became a flame
thrower and put the Celtics away, shooting 69% from the field and 67%
from beyond the arc. After shooting 35% from beyond the arc in the
regular season, Martin finished Game 2 with 21 points, shooting 58.3%
from the field and 83.3% from beyond the arc. The Celtics definitely need to figure out how to slow down Martin, especially on the perimeter.
Keys to the Game
Defense remains the
biggest key to winning every single game. The Celtics allowed Miami to
shoot 49.3% from the field and 53.5% from beyond the arc. They were
late on closeouts for most of the game. The Heat were more aggressive
and more physical on defense than the Celtics. The Celtics must commit
to playing lock down defense by every player for 48 minutes of this
game. They definitely need to play better defense than they did in Game
2.
Rebound - Along with defense, rebounding is always a
key to winning. As Pat Riley once said "No rebounds, no rings." In
Game 1, the Celtics out-rebounded the Heat 44-34 and 10-5 on offensive
rebounds. In Game 2, the Heat out-rebounded the Celtics 40-39. The
Celtics need to commit to working harder on the boards than the Heat.
It takes effort and hustle to get rebounds and the Celtics need to
increase both in this game to win the rebounding battle.
Be Aggressive
- The Celtics need to be the more aggressive team. They have to be more
aggressive in going after loose balls, in grabbing rebounds, in
defending, and in going to the basket. The Heat are proud of having a
team of "dogs" who hustle and scrap for everything and they showed that
side of the team in Game 2. The Celtics need to hustle and be
aggressive for 48 minutes and "out-dog" the Heat. They can win a lot of
games by playing harder than their opponents and they can lose a lot of
games by allowing their opponents to be the team that plays harder.
Move the Ball -
The Celtics are at their best when they keep the ball moving and when
they hustle up the floor before the Heat can set up their defense. In
Game 2, the Celtics allowed the Heat to set up their defense time and
again as they walked the ball up the court. They hunted mismatches all
game that gave Tatum and Brown good shots, but it also killed the
offensive flow for the team. Mismatches are nice, but not to the
detriment of team basketball.
Everyone Needs to Step Up -
The Heat got 20 points off their bench in Game 2, even though they were
depleted due to Rozier and Butler being out. The Celtics got just 12
points off their bench. Payton Pritchard went scoreless while Horford
and Hauser scored just 6 points each. The Celtics have got to get more
production from their reserves. Pritchard, Hauser and Horford are all
capable of more and need to step up and do more in Game 3.
X-Factors
On the Road -
The Celtics are on the road and that may be good thing since the
Celtics are just 13-14 at home over the last 4 years in the playoffs.
This season, the Heat were 22-19 at home while the Celtics were 27-14 on
the road. The Celtics have veteran players who usually play better on
the road than rookies and 2nd year players. However, they still have to
overcome the distractions of travel, hotel living and playing in front
of a hostile crowd.
Coaching - Erik Spoelstra is thought
by many to be the best coach in the league. He has coached 2
championship teams, has taken his teams to 6 finals, and his teams have
won 6 Eastern Conference Championships. Spoelstra has 112 playoff wins
while Mazzulla has 12. Spoelstra made changes to his game plan and the
Heat executed them while Mazzulla and the Celtics never adjusted to
those changes. Hopefully Mazzulla will have the Celtics ready for
whatever wrinkles Mazzulla comes up with for this game.
Officiating
-Officiating is always an x-factor in every game. Every crew officiates
differently. Some call it tight, others let them play. We saw in the
Knicks/76eers game that the refs missed 2 big calls against the Knicks,
allowing them to get the game winning shot. The Celtics need to adjust to
how the refs are calling the game and not allow bad calls or no calls to
take away their focus from playing the game. They also need to make
sure that they play hard throughout the game so as not to allow the game
to come down to a final shot for either team. They also have to
concentrate on the game and not on complaining to the officials.
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