MIAMI — The final quarter of Game 3 saw a return to where the Celtics and Heat stood late in Game 1. Boston approached a 30-point lead, Caleb Martin spatted with members of the Celtics after only putting three points on the board and a further short-handed Heat team sat at 32.1% from three with 28 attempts. Boston’s offensive rebounding, fast break and 62% shooting inside the arc devastated them as they turned to deep reserves.
Earlier, Al Horford snuck a full court pass to Derrick White from baseline to baseline past all of the Heat’s defenders. White fed Brown at the basket for an uncontested two in the low point of a low-effort loss where the Celtics took advantage of them in all the hustle categories. Boston played with urgency. Miami, late, looked desperate, losing 104-84 at home. The Celtics lead the series 2-1.
The opening quarter eerily resembled Game 3 on offense as Brown began 0-for-4, drawing the ball against Tyler Herro on most possessions and struggling to exploit him. A higher tempo eventually freed him for a 3-for-9 start while Boston’s defense held Miami’s offense to a 12-point opening frame, 5-for-21 shooting and a 1-for-9 efficiency from three where the Heat pulverized Boston’s defense three nights earlier. While stagnant offensively, losing Kristaps Porziņģis to two early fouls and trying an unsuccessful bench double-big unit for two minutes — the Celtics established full control early in their own end.
That allowed for a 42-27 second quarter that blew the game open. Boston went to more pass-pass possessions and forced nine first half turnovers that sent them out in transition. Tatum and Sam Hauser opened the frame with back-to-back threes, forcing an Erik Spoelstra timeout one minute in.
Boston returned to the floor with four players up in a press, and Hauser nearly stole the ensuing in-bounds from Haywood Highsmith. After building a 13-point lead midway through the quarter, Jrue Holiday, who finished the half +26 despite not taking a shot, tapped passes to Derrick White and Brown in the half court and fast break, respectively, for the first five points of a 7-0 run. White followed with the first of two put-backs, that vaulted him to 12 points over a three minute stretch late in the frame.
Boston led by 21 and finished the half with eight offensive rebounds, shooting 38.1% from three and winning the turnover battle 3-9. Brown closed 5-for-7 after his slow start while Porzingis and Payton Pritchard added three more put-backs to combine for 19 points after their scoring struggles in Game 2.
The Heat responded with a 14-9 run into the third while Boston’s offense flattened again. Brown scored six of those points while the rest of the Celtics opened 1-for-5, Tatum taking the final shot of that stretch and falling down, missing a three that allowed Adebayo to streak in transition for an easy dunk, finishing a 10-2 run midway through the frame that cut Boston’s lead to 19. The Celtics answered 8-4 out of timeout with White involved in each play, finding Brown and Horford inside while hitting a layup and jump shot of his own.
The Heat fell behind by 26 after threes from Horford and Holiday out of timeout, while Herro tossed the ball off Hauser after Hauser committed a foul, picking up a technical. Pritchard shared words with Herro and Martin as the quarter came to an end, Miami going to Thomas Bryant and Patty Mills deep off their bench looking for anything offensively. Delon Wright did not play for personal reasons, further thinning a Heat lineup effectively down Jimmy Butler, Terry Rozier and Duncan Robinson, the latter barely able to appear in games. They stayed behind by 20 points throughout the fourth, Tatum and Brown maintaining pressure on the Heat inside the arc, scoring 22 points each while Porzingis reached 18 at the free throw line.
Game 4 is Monday at 7:30 p.m. in Miami.
