Butler Leads Heat to Victory, Forces Game 7
May 27, 2022
Winning game five in Miami provided the Boston Celtics with a golden opportunity to close out the series at home and advance to the NBA Finals. It felt like Boston had snatched the Heat’s will and they were riding a great wave of momentum into the TD Garden on Friday night, with a finals berth in mind. But Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat had other ideas. Butler was incredible from start to finish and the Celtics simply were not crisp enough on either end to get the job done. Despite the raucous home crowd and the obvious ramifications that came along with a win, the Celtics seemed unprepared for the moment. They came out flat and lifeless, taking almost a whole quarter to get into the game. They spotted the Heat a 10 point lead just over seven minutes into the game and never fully recovered. Butler did the bulk of the heavy lifting, but the Heat got solid contributions up and down the roster, including some incredible clutch shot-making down the stretch. The Celtics pushed and were never out of the game, but they could never get over the hump and fell to the Heat 111-103. With that, the series is now tied at 3-3 as things head back to Miami for the decisive game seven.
For Boston, their main issues were the same ones that have plagued them in each of their losses: turnovers, offensive rebounds, not enough ball movement on offense, and a general lack of urgency and intensity. If the Celtics thought they had already closed out the series they were sorely mistaken. This is a tough, prideful, veteran Heat team and they didn’t have an ounce of quit in them. It certainly wasn’t as bad as game three, but for the second time in this series, the Celtics were punked in the first quarter. This time they were only down 29-22 after one, but handing the Heat early momentum didn’t make matters easier. The Celtics were chasing the game all night and the Heat never really let up.
The biggest factor in this game compared to the rest of the series was that the Heat were actually able to score with their halfcourt offense. Through five games, the Celtics defense was able to completely handle Miami and was really only allowing transition baskets off of turnovers and second chance points. But in this game, the Heat, and especially Butler, were more decisive with their attacks, and more than anything, just made a lot of tough shots. It was a performance for the ages by Butler, and if the Heat end up winning this series it will go down in franchise lore forever. After looking extremely hobbled by a knee injury for the past few games, Jimmy looked fully healthy and was able to come up with an all time game. He played 45 minutes and poured in 47 points along with 9 rebounds, 8 assists, and 4 steals with just one turnover while shooting 16/29 from the field, 4/8 from three, and 11/11 from the free throw line. It was a masterclass and there was nothing the Celtics could do to stop him. Butler scored at all three levels, plowing his way to the basket, finishing through contact, burying contested midrange shots, and even connecting from deep. The Celtics threw everything they had at him and nothing worked; he was spectacular and is the main reason the Heat live to see another game.
Even given the brilliance of Butler, the Celtics were in this game right until the very end and may have been able to overcome his efforts but for the clutch shooting of Miami. The Heat were constantly forced into contested shots with the shot clock winding down, and ultimately they hit enough of them to hold off Boston. Butler obviously hit his share, but the Heat got a lot of other major contributions, including 18 points and 10 assists from Kyle Lowry (4/9 from three), 11 point from PJ Tucker (2/2 from three), and 13 points from Max Strus (3/8 from three). Those role players had been total nonfactors the last few games, but were able to wake up and hit some huge shots when their team needed it most. Even with Bam Adebayo staying quiet (just 6 points on 3/6 from the floor) the Heat were able to find just enough scoring to win their biggest game of the season.
The Heat made a lot of difficult shots, but the Celtics still couldn’t get out of their own way. They turned the ball over 17 times, coughed up 11 offensive boards, and hit just 44% of their shots and 33% from long range. The beautiful ball movement and drive-and-kicks that have fueled Boston’s offense disappeared and was replaced with stagnance, a lack of pace, and settling for a lot of jump shots. Jayson Tatum played well for the most part, scoring 30 points, with 9 rebounds, and 4 assists on 9/12 shooting and 4/7 from three. He was incredibly efficient shooting the ball, but unfortunately the Heat blitzed him constantly forcing him to turn the ball over 7 times and generally not letting him get into any kind of consistent rhythm. They forced Tatum to share the ball and his teammates mostly let him down. Jaylen Brown was up and down, but disappeared for too many stretches and finished with 20 points on 6/13 shooting and 1/3 from deep. Plain and simply, the Celtics need their two stars to be far more aggressive in game seven, regardless of the way they are being guarded. These two are too talented and too physically gifted to be held to just 25 field goal attempts in a game of this magnitude, especially while combining for 11 turnovers. That’s unacceptable. Al Horford and Marcus Smart, two of the Celtics more veteran players and leaders were far from their usually consistent selves. Al had just 3 points on ⅛ shooting and Marcus had 14 but shot just 4/15 and 1/9 from three. Perhaps the Celtics best overall player on the night was Derrick White. White stepped up in a big way with one of his best showings in a Celtics uniform, scoring 22 big points off the bench on 7/14 shooting and 4/7 from three to go along with 5 assists. White finally found his shot, and helped keep Boston in the game while most of the starters struggled.
Now it all comes down to one game for all the marbles and a trip to the NBA Finals. This was a brutal loss for the Celtics, but all is not lost. They are 5-0 in these playoffs after a loss and seem to play their best basketball with their backs against the wall. That is the situation they now find themselves in, as they’ll have to go on the road and win this do-or-die game in Miami. The Celtics have already shown they can win on the road, they can win in the face of adversity, and now they must do both to save their season on Sunday night. The Celtics should know the recipe by now. They have to play with urgency from the opening tip. They must take care of the basketball. They must maintain their physicality and toughness, and keep forcing Miami to work for every single basket. If they are able to execute, they should be able to take care of business, but any slippage, and the Heat will pounce and take advantage. Losing this series would be truly devastating and embarrassing for the Celtics, but for now they still have another game to make things right, to win the Eastern Conference, and to put this grim performance behind them and turn it into an afterthought.
Ben Handler