The first round of the NBA Playoffs carries a bit of extra significance for these Boston Celtics, bringing another dance with their playoff rivals, the Miami Heat. After falling to Miami in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals, their quest for revenge got off to a good start. They ran up a massive lead on the Heat, and though Miami offered a brief fourth quarter threat behind a flurry of threes, the Celtics closed the door appropriately and walked away with a 114-94 win.
Jimmy Butler missed the contest for Miami, as he remained sidelined with an MCL injury that will most likely keep him out for the entire series. In his absence, the Heat struggled with a distinct lack of star power. Bam Adebayo scored 24 points and rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 16, but guard Tyler Herro and 2023 postseason star Caleb Martin combined for just 15 points on 6-of-19 shooting for the afternoon.
Meanwhile, the Celtics were firing on all cylinders. Six players scored in double figures, with Jayson Tatum (23) and Derrick White (20) leading the way. Boston’s star offseason acquisition, Kristaps Porzingis, provided a puzzle that Miami couldn’t solve. He scored 18 points and drilled four three-pointers, warping the floor and helping to bust the Heat’s infamous zone defense. Tatum, meanwhile, recorded his first postseason triple-double with a dominant performance, grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing 10 assists to go with his team-high scoring figure.
The Celtics opened the game with an exclamation point, kicking off their postseason with a 17-2 run to put the Heat on their heels. The early run was driven, as it tends to be, by a hot start from Boston’s three-point shooters, while the Miami offense struggled to generate consistent scoring. But while it looked like the Celtics were cruising to a commanding early lead, the momentum didn’t sustain. The shots stopped falling and the Heat creeped back into the game, and a 15-point Boston lead turned into just a 26-21 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
As the second quarter began, the Boston bench provided some answers. The victim of some early attention from the Miami offense, Sam Hauser found a bit of payback. He drilled four three-pointers in the early minutes of the frame and ignited the Boston offense. Supplementing Hauser’s outburst was heady play from Payton Pritchard (eight first half points) and an assertive Tatum, who began to bully his way to the rim through the Miami defense. Taken alongside continued offensive ineptitude from the Heat, who shot just 3-of-14 from three in the first half, Boston’s lead began to swell. They took a 15-point advantage into the halftime break, 60-45.
The Celtics’ lead crossed the 20-point threshold early in the third quarter. With Tatum puppeteering the offense and Porzingis turning in a dominant effort, the Heat just seemed to be overwhelmed. Their offense continued to scuffle, with only Jaquez Jr. seemingly able to generate points with any consistency. Herro was completely absent, shooting just 4-of-13 for the afternoon, and Adebayo was anonymous as a would-be offensive hub in Butler’s absence. The Celtics kept their foot on the gas pedal, pushing the lead across the 30-point mark, 91-59 and rendering the fourth quarter a perfunctory affair.
Or, at least, it should have been. In a familiar sight, the Celtics appeared to ease up in the fourth quarter, and the Heat took advantage. A string of Boston mistakes and hot shooting from Miami reserve Delon Wright guided a sudden Miami surge, and with four minutes remaining in regulation, the Celtics’ lead was suddenly down to just 15 points. After a timeout from Joe Mazzulla, Tatum found Derrick White for a three to restore some sanity and shut the door on Miami — completing his first playoff triple-double in the process.
Next up, the Celtics will host Miami for Game 2 against the Heat, this Wednesday at 7 PM EST on TNT.
