No matter who's on either side for a series between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat, it's going to be a battle. Game 2 of the first-round postseason matchup between the Eastern Conference rivals proved that, as an undermanned Heat squad upset the C's 111-101 on Wednesday night.
Despite the absence of star Jimmy Butler, the Heat and Celtics are tied at one game apiece. The C's now have to enter the Heat's territory for Game 3, which will tip off at the Kaseya Center on Saturday evening.
The Heat made plenty of adjustments following their Game 1 defeat, meaning the Celtics will have to similarly tweak their game plan to avoid a 2-1 deficit. Ahead of an important Game 3, let's delve into three adjustments the Green Team should implement.
Celtics have to go all out to defend the perimeter
If the Heat want to shock the world and take the league-leading C's down, they'll need to catch fire from 3-point land.
They did just that in Game 2, as they made a playoff franchise record 23 triples. Miami went an incredible 23-for-43 from 3-point land and had one locked and loaded for whenever the Celtics were trying to fight their way back into the contest.
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla admitted that this should probably be a point of focus for his team before Game 3.
“We're going to have to find a balance, because a lot of those guys that made shots tonight are also good drivers, especially getting downhill,” he said. “So, we're going to have to find that balance of making sure we close-out appropriately, but we don't want to start opening up the other side of that. So, that will be the adjustment.”
Boston frequently outshot its opponents from beyond the arc in the regular season, making the long ball somewhat of a calling card. The Heat used a similar strategy in Game 2, taking advantage of Boston's inconsistent perimeter defense.
Clearly, Miami's shooters can't be underestimated. The C's will need to do their best to run the Heat off the 3-point line in Game 3 because even guys not known for their shooting were draining shots.
“Guys that we want shooting the ball was hitting them,” Celtics star Jaylen Brown said. “We simply couldn’t get them to miss. We thought they were decent closeouts but, credit to those guys. They came out and they play fast and they play hard and had a record-breaking night.”
Tougher 3-point defense could weaken Boston's paint presence, but it might be worth it if the Heat continue to convert from deep. It's either that or the Celtics rely on hot 3-point shooting themselves to keep pace with their long-time foe.
Celtics have to get Porzingis going again
Boston's star tandem of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown did their best to counter the Heat's record-breaking performance. They combined for 61 points and were responsible for over half of Boston's scoring total.
Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis, who's arguably the team's third star, had a completely different outing. He had just six points on 1-for-9 shooting from the field and couldn't find any offensive rhythm.
A big part of that was Miami's aggressive defense, which was intent on making entry passes to the 7-footer as difficult as possible.
“They did a good job being physical. Pushing catches higher. Making it difficult for us to take advantage of those switches,” Mazzulla said when asked how the Heat limited Porzingis' post-up game. “I think when you're in situations like that, you have to fight for your spacing. So, on some of those, we weren't spaced well. We didn't hold the hold the seals well. So, just a little bit of everything. We got to be better [at] physically holding seals, make better passes, have better spacing.”
In Game 1, Porzingis was a huge boon. He had 18 points, four rebounds, and two blocks and was breaking down double teams while posing a threat from beyond the arc. Due to his size and Miami's relative lack of height, he should give the Celtics an advantage in this series.
The C's will need to feed Porzingis with better passes and have shooters spaced out around him for when the Heat inevitably throw multiple defenders at Boston's best big man.
Celtics can't let Bam Adebayo get comfortable on offense
Miami's 3-point shooting was the main story from Game 2, yet that shouldn't overshadow center Bam Adebayo's performance.
The 2024 All-Star had 21 points on 9-for-13 shooting from the field thanks to a heavy diet of fadeaway jumpers. Once Adebayo got into a rhythm, he was tough to stop one-on-one.
Adebayo's efficiency was a major reason why the C's couldn't claw their way back into the game down the stretch. For Game 3, they're going to have to be more physical while defending him and try and tire him out on the other end of the floor.
The scary thing is that sending doubles at the three-time All-Star will generate open 3-pointers for Miami. The Celtics will have to carefully pick and choose their defensive battles in Game 3 and get better contests overall.
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