After a big win in Game 1 of the first round against the Miami Heat, the Celtics will attempt to go up 2-0 in the series as they host the Heat for Game 2. These two teams are very familiar with each other having met in the playoffs in 4 of the last 5 years. The Heat lead the Celtics 4-2 all time in playoff series wins. They have played in 2 of the last 3 Eastern Conference finals and also in the 2020 Eastern Conference Finals. They lead the Celtics 20-17 in playoff games won.
Going into Game 1, the Celtics had been off for a week while the Heat had played 2 games after the season ended in order to just make the playoffs and they had played on Friday before Sunday’s matinee game against the Celtics. Both teams have had 2 days off since their last meeting on Sunday and so the Celtics won’t have a big rest advantage and the Heat will be a bit more rested than they were coming into the first game.
In Game 1, the Celtics took 49 threes and made 22, which is a franchise playoff record. The Celtics were first in the league, averaging 42.5 threes a game in the regular season. The Heat averaged 33.7 threes a game in the regular season and took 37 in Game 1, making just 12. Erik Spoelstra has vowed to overcome that disparity in made 3’s. If the Heat can defend the perimeter better, the Celtics will need to change up their strategy and go to the basket if the threes stop falling for them. And, if the Heat look to take more 3’s this game, the Celtics need to increase their perimeter defense.
Most of the discussion after Game 1 was about the hard foul that Caleb Martin committed on Jayson Tatum. Thankfully Jayson wasn’t seriously hurt, but it could have caused serious injury. Both teams talked about this series being a war prior to Game 1 and if there is one thing that is certain about the Miami Heat, it is that they will play hard and try to muddy up the series. The Celtics have to be ready for more hard fouls and not allow that type of play to frustrate them and take them out of their game.
The Celtics need to be ready for the Heat to come out looking to be better in this game. Spoelstra will have his players ready to take the fight to the Celtics. The Celtics jumped out to a big lead right from the beginning of Game 1 and the Heat will try to avoid that in this game by being aggressive right from the beginning. The Celtics should be ready for their physicality and more defense on the perimeter and they may look to be more physical themselves. The question will be how much the referees allow and if they call the game a bit more closely after the hard foul by Martin in Game 1.
Quotes from the Celtics show that they are expecting a physical and aggressive Heat team. Jaylen Brown expects a fight and expects the Celtics to respond in kind: “They’re going to be hungry. Desperate. They’re going to come out fast, even more aggressive. Trying to turn us over. Just trying to crash the glass hard, be physical – knocking us to the ground. Just trying to win that physicality match any way they can. That’s what I foresee. But we’ll be ready to do the same thing.”
The Celtics remain mostly healthy, although Jayson Tatum may be a bit sore after the fall he took after the foul from Caleb Martin. He’s not on the injured list so that is good. Luke Kornet remains out for the Celtics with a calf injury. For the Heat, Jimmy Butler is out with an MCL sprain and is likely to miss the rest of the series. Terry Rozier is out with a neck sprain and is considered week to week. Josh Richardson is out after having shoulder surgery.
Probable Celtics Starters
PG: Jrue Holiday
SG: Derrick White
SF: Jaylen Brown
PF: Jayson Tatum
C: Kristaps Porzingis
Celtics Reserves
Oshae Brissett
Sam Hauser
Al Horford
Svi Mykhailiuk
Payton Pritchard
Jordan Walsh
Jaden Springer
Xavier Tillman
Neemias Queta
2 Way Players
JD Davison
Drew Peterson
Injuries/Out
Luke Kornet (calf) out
Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla
Probable Heat Starters
PG: Tyler Herro
SG: Caleb Martin
SF: Jaime Jaquez, Jr
PF: Nikola Jovic
C: Bam Adebayo
Heat Reserves
Thomas Bryant
Haywood Highsmith
Kevin Love
Patty Mills
Duncan Robinson
Orlando Robinson
Delon Wright
Out/Injuries
Jimmy Butler (MCL) out
Josh Richardson (shoulder) out
Terry Rozier III (neck) out
Two Way Players
Jamal Cain
Cole Swider
Alondes Williams
Head Coach
Erik Spoelstra
Key Matchups
Kristaps Porzingis vs Bam Adebayo
With Jimmy Butler out, the Heat depend on Adebayo to pick up the slack and be their best player. In Game 1, he finished with 24 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists. He shot 55.6% from the field bu was 0-2 shooting threes. Porzingis finished with 18 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 2 blocks. He was 4-8 from beyond the arc. The Celtics will need another strong game from him in this one.
-
Jaylen Brown
Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images
-
Jaime Jaquez, Jr
Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images
Jaylen Brown vs Jaime Jaquez, Jr
Once again, with Butler out, the Heat are expecting more from their rookie. He played well in Game 1, finishing with 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists. He shot 50% from the field but went 0-3 from beyond the arc. He shot 32.2% on threes during the regular season. Often the Celtics found him to be a weak link in the defense.
Honorable Mention
Sam Hauser vs Delon Wright
Normally, I would expect Herro to be key, but in Game 1, between Jrue Holiday and Derrick White defending him, he was unable to get anything going offensively and he is a weak defender also. I expect more of the same in this game. Wright, however, came off the bench and finished with 17 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists and 2 steals while shooting 85.7% from the field and going 5-5 from beyond the arc. Hauser was key for the Celtics, coming off the bench to hit 4-6 from 3.
Keys to the Game
Defense – Once again, defense is the biggest key to winning this game and every game. Defense becomes even more important in the playoffs. The Celtics were 2nd in the regular season with a defensive rating of 110.6. But, the Heat were also a good defensive team with a defensive rating of 111.5, 5th in the league. The Celtics played very well on the defensive end for most of Game 1 and will need to play tough team defense once again in this game. The team that plays the toughest defense won Game 1 and will likely get the win in this one also.
Rebound – As with defense, rebounding will always be a key to winning. Much of rebounding is effort and hustle and when the Celtics put out that extra effort to grab rebounds, it usually translates to other areas of the game as well. The Celtics were 2nd with 46.3 rebounds per game in the regular season while the Heat were 26th with 42.3 rebounds per game. In Game 1, the Celtics out-rebounded the Heat 44-34 and 10-5 on offensive rebounds. The Celtics have to work harder on the boards than the Heat once again in this game and win the rebounding battle.
Be Aggressive – The Heat will play hard and will be aggressive and the Celtics need to be even more aggressive and play even harder than the Heat. They have to be more aggressive in going after loose balls, in grabbing rebounds, in defending, and in going to the basket. The Heat are proud of having a team of “dogs” who hustle and scrap for everything. The Celtics need to “out-dpg” the Heat and hustle and be aggressive for 48 minutes. They can win a lot of games by playing harder than their opponents and they can lose a lot of games by allowing their opponents to be the team that plays harder.
Do Not Let Up – The Celtics need to come out strong right from the opening tip and not allow the Heat to get comfortable or to gain any confidence. They need to play hard through out each quarter and not let their foot off the gas. The Celtics were up 91-59 on the Heat going into the 4th quarter and they were up by as many as 34 points at one time. They let up on their defensive effort in the 4th quarter and allowed the Heat to come to within 14 points. That will likely give them a little confidence going into Game 2 and so the Celtics need to play all out for all 48 minutes with no let up.
Stay Focused – The Celtics have to stay focused and play the right way as a team. The Heat like to muddy up games and get their opponents to lose their focus by giving hard fouls and getting into opponents’ heads as they did with the Caleb Martin foul and I can imagine that they will double down on that in this game. The Celtics will have to stay focused on playing their game, on grabbing rebounds, on taking good shots and on playing tough defense. They can’t let the Heat’s style of play frustrate them.
X-Factors
Home Court – The Celtics fought all season to have the best record in the league and to have home court throughout the playoffs. The Garden should be loud and rowdy and should give the Celtics a boost. They only lost 4 games all season at home and they need to keep that mindset throughout the playoffs. Take care of home court. The Heat will have distractions of travel and playing in front of a very hostile crowd and the Celtics need to take advantage of that.
Coaching – Erik Spoelstra is thought by many to be the best coach in the league. He can be expected to come up with a wrinkle or two to surprise the Celtics and try to give the Heat an advantage. He has coached 2 championship teams, has taken his teams to 6 finals, and his teams have won 6 Eastern Conference Championships. He will come out in this game with a new game plan and can be expected to change things up a bit for Game 2 and Joe Mazzulla needs to be ready to counter whatever Spoelstra comes up with. It is just Joe Mazzulla’s 2nd season as a head coach, but he has done a very good job this season and hopefully can counter whatever surprises Spoelstra has in store for him.
Officiating -Officiating is always an x-factor in every game. Every crew officiates differently. Some call it tight, others let them play. After Martin’s hard foul and all that was made of it, the officials may be watching more closely and stop any shenanigans before they go too far. We saw in the Knicks/76eers game that the refs missed 2 big calls against the Knicks, allowing them to get the game winning shot. The Celtics need to adjust to how the refs are calling the game and not allow bad calls or no calls to take away their focus from playing the game. They also need to make sure that they play hard throughout the game so as not to allow the game to come down to a final shot for either team.
Official Report
Crew Chief – David Guthrie
Referee – Sean Wright
Umpire – JB DeRosa
Althernate – Scott Twardoski
There has been a lot of talk about the officiating in some of the series so far. After the last game between the Lakers and Nuggets, LeBron James was seen arguing with an official right after the game and has been very vocal about that crew’s shortcomings as he viewed them. In the last game between the Knicks and the 76ers, the refs missed 4 key calls in the final 2 minutes that likely changed the outcome.
There are 3 veteran officials for this game. The Celtics are 8-2 in their last 10 games officiated by David Guthrie, including 3 wins against Miami. The Heat are 3-7 in their last 10 games with Guthrie. Home teams are 22-32 this season with Guthrie as a referee.
The Celtics are 10-0 in their last 10 games with Sean Wright as an official. The Heat are 5-5 with Wright. Home teams are 35-32 this season with Wright officiating. The Celtics are 6-4 in their last 10 games with JB DeRosa officiating. The Heat are 8-2 with DeRosa. Home teams are 35-28 this season with DeRosa as an official.
