With Bam Adebayo’s aggressiveness in the opening minutes and Jimmy Butler’s 12 points, the Heat started strong but the Celtics weren’t left behind. Robert Williams dominates the offensive rebound and behind Jayson Tatum, four Boston players score at least 6 points to take the lead (30-28).
Off the bench, Kyle Lowry scored 13 of Miami’s first 16 points to start the second period, including 3 of 3 from afar. Unfortunately for the Heat, their zone defense has gaps. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown spin to lay-ups, and Williams continues his work on the offensive rebound to keep Boston in contact (47-47). The Celtics’ defense joins the party, and Marcus Smart’s vista launches a 20-5 that gives them a thirteen-point lead (62-49).
Caleb Martin limits the break before the break, and the Heat raise their heads to start the second half. Behind a defense which finally closes access to the circle, they pass a 27-9 to the Celtics to regain the advantage and make a mini-break in the wake of the trio Adebayo – Strus – Love (86-80)! Despite a blower from Joe Mazzulla, the Celtics are unable to stop the bleeding. Jimmy Butler takes over and scores or scores 12 points in a row, before a 3-pointer from Struss puts Miami at +12 (103-91)!
Jimmy Butler hero, Jayson Tatum zero
Derrick White, Malcolm Brogdon, and Jaylen Brown then wake up Boston by starting the last quarter with a 7-0, but Jimmy Butler responds immediately with six points and an assist (114-105). Miami then remains silent for more than three minutes, and Boston gradually picks up but Butler’s 5th and 6th interceptions limit the damage (114-100).
As Jayson Tatum loses three straight balls, Butler assists for a 3-pointer from Caleb Martin, before scoring a long shot, which hits the circle four times before returning, to put Miami at +10 with a minute to play. As against Milwaukee and New York, Miami won Game 1 away from home to regain the advantage of the field!
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
— 40 points in the racket for Boston in the first half. On average this season, the Celtics only score 46 points in the key. Miami’s defense was one of the NBA’s best at it, yet they were unable to stop opposing drives or pick & rolls between guards in the first half, losing the racket battle 40 to 16! Miami’s 11 lost balls, which gave the Celtics 19 points, and 11 points conceded on second chances allowed Boston to take control of the game.
— The Heat’s scathing, record-breaking response. Back to the wall, Miami first relied on its defense. They held the one-on-one, shut down the offensive rebound and forced the Celtics to take some tough shots. This defensive revival allowed them to transition and find their rhythm. Kevin Love and Max Strus set the sights, and Bam Adebayo was aggressive towards the circle to bring his team back, before Jimmy Butler came to finish the job. The Adebayo – Butler – Strus trio scored 34 points in the third quarter, allowing their team to score a franchise-high 46 points in a quarter, on 65% on shots and 63% from 3-pointers, and end the period at +21!
— the Heat dominates behind the 7m25. This is one of the keys to the series. Faced with a Boston team that takes and scores a lot of 3-point shots, the Heat must try to limit the breakage to be able to mathematically stay in the game. Tonight they did even better. They limited Boston to 29 3-point attempts, their second-lowest playoff total (they had 26 in Game 1 against Philadelphia), and just 10 scored, their lowest playoff total. Miami outbid by ending the game at 16/31, a decisive advantage of 18 points!
TOPS/FLOPS
✅ Jimmy Butler. 35 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, 6 steals… “Playoffs Jimmy” has struck again! With 20 points in the second half and 3 interceptions in the last quarter, he made the difference and led the Heat to victory.
✅ Bam Adebayo. For Miami to have a chance of winning this series, Adebayo needs to be aggressive on offense. He was tonight, finishing with 20 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists. He was also, as usual, valuable in defense.
✅ Max Strus – Gabe Vincent – Kyle Lowry – Caleb Martin. The four “second knives” each scored 15 points at 22/39 on shots. Lowry and Strus each had their half time, while Vincent and Martin were consistent throughout the game. Difficult for Boston to survive the 60 points of this quartet, especially since the duo Butler – Adebayo was also effective.
✅ Malcolm Brogdon. The best sixth man of the year did his job, scoring 19 points off the bench at 50% on shots.
✅ ⛔ Jayson Tatum. Despite his 30 points at 9/17 on shots, the Celtics star was transparent in the second half. He only took 4 shots, none of which in the last quarter! He also lost 3 balls in the last three minutes as he tried to revive his team.
THE FOLLOWING
Game 2 in Boston on the night of Friday to Saturday (02:30).
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How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Shots made / Shots attempted; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D= defensive rebound; T = Total Bounces; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost bullets; Ct: Counters; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Points = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
