#Heats and celtics series
#Heats and celtics free

Most often, he was operating as either a screener or a spacer while another Celtic, most frequently Jaylen Brown or Malcolm Brogdon, tried and failed to create shots.

#Heats and celtics free

Jayson Tatum didn't attempt a single field goal in the fourth quarter, scoring all of his points at the free throw line. The beginning of Boston's offensive struggles boiled down to poor process. Boston entered Game 1 with an 0-3 record in playoff games decided by seven points or less. Yet time and time again, this offseason finds ways to collapse down the stretch of close games. This is not some young team unaccustomed to the rigors of the postseason. More of the same for Boston's offenseīoston's core has now been to the Eastern Conference finals five times in the past seven seasons. Now it's up to Boston to accept that their opponent is going to make 3's if they're left wide open. All three have bounced back in the playoffs, and with Butler shedding his regular-season 3-point aversion in the playoffs as he does every year, the Heat are right back to where they were a year ago. The Heat ranked first in the NBA in 3-point shooting during the 2021-22 regular season, but a number of formerly reliable shooters like Gabe Vincent, Max Strus and Duncan Robinson all happened to have down years at the same time. None of this should be especially surprising, though, because Miami's shooting was far better a season ago. The Celtics outscored the Heat by 22 points in the paint, but it didn't matter because Miami was so accurate from deep. Miami made 16 3's in all, hitting 51.6% of their attempts. The result was a parade of open 3-pointers from the corner. Boston's help frequently sagged towards the basket, especially when Jimmy Butler had the ball.

Yet Boston, a team equipped to stop 3-point shooters by switching all screens, instead prioritized the rim. In the playoffs, Miami has ranked fifth in 3-point shooting, and up until their last few, cold games against the Knicks, they were making just about everything. Defenses continue to game-plan around a Heat team that can't shoot. This has created a bit of a problem for Miami's postseason opponents, though, because they are operating with outdated information. The Heat ranked 27th in 3-point percentage across the first 82 games they played, and that was with Tyler Herro in the fold. Miami was a bad 3-point shooting team in the regular season. Here are the biggest takeaways from Game 1. The Heat are here to stay, and if the Celtics don't shape up quickly, they're going to be Miami's latest postseason victim. Disregard record, seeds and expectations. They beat them in the Eastern Conference finals in 2020.

The Heat pushed the Celtics to seven games a year ago. He turned the ball over three times without making a field goal in the fourth quarter as Boston's late-game offense imploded. As for Boston's superstar? Jayson Tatum had a stellar first half, but his quiet second was one of the stories of the night. Just as you'd expect, Jimmy Butler led the way for Miami with 35 points, picking up right where he left off against Boston after scoring 82 points in his final two games against them in last year's Eastern Conference finals. 8 seed waltzed into Boston on Wednesday and took Game 1 against the Celtics with a stunning 123-116 upset. The Miami Heat would respectfully disagree.

#Heats and celtics series

Plenty of basketball observers felt that Boston's second-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers was the true Eastern Conference finals.