If there’s one thing we’ve learned from past series, it’s always exciting when the Heat and Celtics meet in the playoffs. This series has proved to be no exception, with each team stealing a game from the opposing team’s home court. Game 1 saw the Celtics having a strong showing early on. Jayson Tatum was dominating with 21 points at halftime and the Celtics were leading 62-54. That was before Miami had their best quarter of the postseason.
Miami outscored Boston 39-14 in the 3rd quarter, completely flipping the script of the game. Jimmy Butler himself had 17 points in this quarter while the Celtics shot 2/15 from the field. Despite a late push in the 4th quarter by Boston, the Heat ended up hanging on to this one 118-107. Jimmy ended with 41 points, 9 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 blocks in yet another dominant showing from him. While Tatum had a good first half, he only ended up with 8 second-half points along with 7 turnovers. It also didn’t help that the Celtics were missing both Marcus Smart and Al Horford, two important pieces of their defense.
The Celtics were a different team offensively in Game 2, seemingly unable to miss from beyond the arc. Marcus Smart and Al Horford returned from their injuries and suffocated Miami on defense. Boston was on fire from three, converting 50% of them, while Miami only shot 29.4% from three. Smart, Tatum, and Jaylen Brown all had 24+ points and Grant Williams added another 19. The only Heat player to crack 20 points was Butler, who ended up with 29. Miami was dominated in this game, with the Celtics winning 127-102.
Game 3 saw the return of a fully healthy Kyle Lowry back into the Heat’s rotation. It also saw Robert Williams being ruled out due to knee soreness. Lowry’s impact was immediate as he would consistently look to Bam Adebayo to score against Boston’s depleted big men. Adebayo had 16 points at halftime and was scoring whenever he wanted. All was going well for Miami as they took a 15 point lead to end the first half. That’s when the injury bug hit both teams, with Jimmy being ruled out for the second half with Tatum and Smart getting injured as well.
While Tatum and Smart both returned shortly after they got hurt, it wasn’t enough for the Celtics to come back. Bam continued to dominate offensively and Oladipo had one of his best defensive games of the season. Miami ended up with 19 steals, the most by a playoff team since 2015. Bam ended up with 31 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 steals while the Heat pulled out a 109-103 victory.
Game 4 was the worst performance by this Heat team in the playoffs yet. The only players on Miami who scored in double digits were Victor Oladipo, Caleb Martin, and Duncan Robinson all coming off the bench. Oladipo ended with 23 points on 43% shooting, Martin finished with 12 points on 50% shooting, and Duncan had 14 points on 45% shooting.
Aside from those three, the rest of the Heat team combined to shoot 24.5% from the field as well as 23.5% from three. Even with the Celtics not shooting great, Miami just didn’t get enough effort from their starters. The Heat’s starters combined for 18 points, which was almost half of Jayson Tatum’s 31 points. The Celtics cruised to a 102-82 victory and tied the series at 2-2. With such an embarrassing effort, the Heat will head back to Miami to play a must-win Game 5.
