Celtics Bounce Back Behind Dominant Defense
May 23, 2022
Two nights after being humiliated on their home floor, the Boston Celtics bounced back in a big way, dominating the Miami Heat for a resounding victory in TD Garden Monday night. Their performance in game three was embarrassing, particularly coming out flat to start the game and digging a 39-18 hole after just one quarter. But in game four, Boston made sure things would be different this time around and completely suffocated the Heat from the outset. The Celtics jumped all over Miami, starting the game with an 18-1 run, forcing Miami to miss their first 14 field goal attempts, and Miami didn’t make a shot until there was just 3:32 remaining in the opening quarter. The Celtics didn’t let up defensively at all, wrapping up the first quarter with a 29-11 lead, completely flipping the script from the previous game. Boston would continue their dominance, leading 57-33 at the half, stretching the lead as far as 32 at one point, and coasting to a comfortable 102-82 victory, and leveling the Eastern Conference Finals at two games apiece.
Through four games this series has been a wild roller coaster ride with crazy ups and downs for both teams, and that has included the injury front. Hours before the game, Miami got word that they would be without Sixth Man of the Year, Tyler Herro, while the Celtics would be without the Defensive Player of the Year in Marcus Smart. This time it was Boston who was able to overcome their missing piece and raise their level of play. There was no doubt that the Celtics needed this game more than the Heat, and that was apparent. The Celtics played with a sense of urgency and desperation that was markedly absent in game three. A big part of that urgency was thanks to Derrick White. The new father hadn’t made much of an impact in the series, but was thrust into the starting lineup in place of the ailing Smart. White responded with his best quarter of the playoffs. He came out looking for his offense, pushing the pace, and getting to the basket. He scored the first seven points of the game, tallying 10 in the quarter and finishing the game with 13 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals. White provided a massive spark for the Celtics in place of the DPOY.
The other big story of the game beyond the Celtics defense was their ball security. After turning the ball over 24 times in game three, Boston coughed it up just 9 times and only 4 times in the first half. That increased attention to detail and ball retention took away the Heat’s transition game, allowing the Celtics to set up their half court defense, which was essentially impenetrable. In game three, Boston gave up 33 points off turnovers. In game four that number was just 7. The result was a complete lack of easy and efficient offense for the Heat. The return of Robert Williams III bolstered the rim protection for the Celtics and allowed them to overwhelm Miami with size, causing all kinds of problems. The Heat offense struggled all night to find clean looks, starting the game just 6/27 from two point range and settling for a majority of their shots from midrange. The Heat weren’t able to beat the Celtics defenders off the dribble, and when they were getting anywhere near the rim they were met by the likes of Rob and Al Horford. It was a defensive clinic by Boston, and the Heat had no answers. The Celtics held the Heat to just 33% shooting from the floor, outrebounded them 60-39, and blocked 11 shots. The entire Heat starting lineup was rendered almost invisible. Jimmy Butler had just 6 points on 3/14 shooting and Bam Adebayo followed up his 31/10 with just 9 points on only 5 attempts. In fact the entire Heat starting lineup combined for only 18 points in the entire game! If not for Victor Oladipo, Miami’s first half may have been historically paltry. With just over two minutes remaining in the half, Miami had scored just 28 points and the former all-star had accounted for 18 of them on 5/7 shooting. He basically accounted for the only Heat highlights of the night on offense, finishing with 23 points.
Despite the dominant win, the Celtics offense was pretty pedestrian. They shot just 40% from the floor and made only 8/34 three pointers. But the key was protecting the ball, moving the ball, driving with aggression and force, decisively, and drawing fouls. The Celtics had a huge advantage at the line, making 32/38 free throws while the Heat hit 8/14 on the night. That’s a huge disparity, and yet it still felt like the officials were largely letting the Heat play extremely physically. The Celtics were just far more aggressive offensively, and their defense was forcing the Heat to settle for contested jump shots time after time. Jayson Tatum was a bright spot for the Celtics offense, following up his game three dud with an efficient 31 points on 8/16 shooting (despite just 1/7 from three) to go along with 8 rebounds and 5 assists, including outscoring the Heat by himself 12-11 in the first quarter. Tatum was masterful with the ball, controlling tempo, and getting to the rim over and over again, which led to a hard earned 16 free throw attempts. He stopped trying to force the issue, making good decisions, and taking what the defense was giving him. Jaylen Brown went the opposite way, following up his efficient 40-ball with just 12 points on 5-20 shooting. However, Brown took much better care of the ball, turning it over just once and contributing 7 rebounds. Nobody really had it going for the Celts offensively, it was just a solid team effort and very steady execution. Rob had 12 and 9 and Al had 5 and 13, but that doesn’t begin to tell the story of how much those two owned the paint on both ends of the floor. Payton Pritchard also added some juice off the bench and was one of the only guys hitting jump shots, scoring 14 points off the bench on 5/8 shooting.
Now it’s a best of three series with two games in Miami. It’s impossible to know what to expect as we have seen completely different versions of these two teams on different nights throughout the series. Which version of the Celtics will show up for game five on Wednesday night? If they can show up with the same level of urgency and focus as they did in game four, they should be in good shape. The Celtics are now 5-0 following a loss in these playoffs, and seem to show up with an edge, playing like their backs are against the wall. But for whatever reason, they haven’t been able to show that level of effort and intensity after wins. The Celtics need to treat the next game as if it is a must-win, as over 80% of teams who win game five in a 2-2 series, have gone on to win the series. Of course Boston was able to overcome a 3-2 deficit last round, but it’s not something they should make a habit of. Hopefully the two giant letdowns in this series have been enough of a wake up call to ensure that the Celtics don’t lay any more eggs, as they can’t afford many more or their season will be over. Hopefully Marcus will be able to return from his ankle injury, but either way, there are no excuses. The Celtics know exactly what they need to do. They have proven ten times over that they are the better team when they do it. Now they just need to do it two more times and they will be in the NBA finals.
Ben Handler