This series is over, isn’t it? The Miami Heat have again proven hard work, discipline, and commitment to a gameplan will always triumph inconsistent greatness as they beat the Celtics 111-105 in Game 2 to take a 2-0 series lead back to Miami.
That ESPN guy who gave the Heat a 3% chance of winning should be fired immediately.
As we’ve grown accustomed to this postseason, the Miami Heat prevailed against all the odds again as they stole BOTH GAMES in Boston to not only take a 2-0 series lead against the defending Eastern Conference champions, but also all but force the Celtics to win out against them. So, in other words, this series is over if the C’s can’t win Game 3.
But, before I get to the Celtics (and I’ve got a lot to say about them), let me praise the Heat for all but cementing their place in the NBA Finals for the second time in four years. Sure, the Celtics have all the talent and capability of going into Miami and winning both games to even the series, but the way this Heat team plays makes such a task almost impossible.
Despite being the inferior team in terms of natural talent and depth, the Heat play whistle to whistle as if it was their last shift on the court. They challenge every possession, they fight for every loose ball, every player does the hard, gritty work in front of the rim (i.e.: taking charges, setting up picks, ensuring no player has an easy layup, etc.), and, most importantly, every player consistently does their job well.
So, along with some fantastic, clutch shooters (Heat: 42-92 FG shooting, 9-26 3-point shooting) and Jimmy Butler (27 PTS, 8 REB, 6 AST, 3 STLs, 2 BLKS, 12-25 FG shooting) being the best player in the world right now, this team gives even the best rosters in the league intense, hard-fought battles for the entire 48 minutes of the game.
And that happened last night as well as despite being down by 12 points and on the receiving end of a 24-2 run, the Heat never gave up or rested on their laurels.
Players like Duncan Robinson (15 PTS, 1 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 3-6 3-point shooting), Caleb Martin (25 PTS, 4 REB, 0 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK, 11-16 FG shooting), Max Strus (11 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 2-5 3-point shooting), and Gabe Vincent (9 PTS, 2 REB, 0 AST, 2 STLs, 1-4 3-point shooting) may not have been high draft (and some of them were drafted at all) picks or superstar names, but they supported the superstar players, such as Butler and Bam Adebayo (22 PTS, 17 REB, 9 AST), so well by always showing up to play every single night and under the brightest of spotlight (like last night).
It would have been super easy for this Heat team to call it a day after the Celtics went up 89-77 with 10 minutes left in the 4th quarter given they already won a game in Boston, but that’s just not how this Heat team plays. They fight and fight and fight until either the opposition breaks (which has happened every single time this postseason) or until the clock runs out on them.
There’s no quit in this team as they keep pushing back against the weak-minded Celtics until they broke under the pressure and once again turned over the ball to their doom.
Honestly, there hasn’t been a game all postseason long (not including the first Play-In game vs. Atlanta) where these Miami players weren’t pulling their weight, whether it be on the offensive or defensive side of the ball.
And, seeing as how Miami upset the 1st seeded Bucks (and 1st in the NBA), the 5th seeded Knicks, and now are on pace to defeat the 2nd seeded Celtics (and 2nd in the NBA), I don’t think there has ever been a better group of “no name” players in NBA history.
Erik Spoelstra is truly a genius as despite getting his head coaching career started on super teams with the likes of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, and Ray Allen, he’s been able to cultivate a championship-caliber roster with “has-beens”, “unwanteds”, “busts”, and undrafted players. How many coaches in NBA history can boast of winning with both superstar teams and high-work ethic rosters?
There really isn’t many as most coaches can only do one or the other…if even that as we’re seeing with Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla.
Now, I don’t want to completely throw this Celtics team under the bus yet as they’ve been in these horrible positions before and came back, but this just feels different. Similar to how the Celtics collapsed against the Golden State dynasty last season, this Heat team hasn’t shown any signs of weakness or fragility in their game to give the C’s a lifeline back in the series.
Mazzulla is getting BADLY outcoached by Spoelstra to the point I’ve got to question if he’s the right man for the job next season (there’s three championship winning coaches on the market right now), Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have been deafeningly quiet these last two games in the 4th quarter, the frontcourt is getting bullied by Bam Adebayo alone, and the Celtics just aren’t hitting their shots consistently as they once again shot below 30% from the 3-point line (28.6% to be exact).
Not a great winning picture.
But, if I had to point out two key factors as to why the Celtics are destined to fall short for the 5th straight season, its coaching, superstar fragility, and the maddening overreliance on small ball basketball.
Point 1 and 3 are pretty much linked together as Joe Mazzulla is getting his lunch handed to him series after series with Quin Snyder, Doc Rivers, and now Eric Spoelstra all getting the better of him in key situations.
He did a passable job this past regular season as the Celtics did finish with the 2nd best record in the league (but they really should have been by far the best seed in the league) to ease my concerns over his ability to win-now, but this postseason run has eroded any belief I had in the guy.
If the Celtics don’t miraculously pull off this series victory, then he has to go in favor of either Mike Budenholzer (2021 NBA champion), Monty Williams (2021 NBA Finalist), Nick Nurse (2019 NBA champions), Mike D’Antoni (2X Coach Of The Year), or Mark Jackson (Warriors dynasty co-architect) as Mazzulla’s stubbornness to play small, 3-point focused basketball against teams they can physically dominate with the likes of Horford and Robert Williams III has cost the Celtics big time.
Bam Adebayo is a great player, but there’s no way he should be getting 17 rebounds against a Celtics team with Robert Williams (13 PTS, 3 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 2 BLKs), Al Horford (2 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST, 2 BLKs), Jayson Tatum (23 PTS, 13 REB, 8 AST) and Blake Griffin (who hasn’t been played a single minute for some reason). That’s all on Mazzulla for only putting two of the four players in the lineup when Bam is on the floor.
Oh, and his refusal to double cover Jimmy Butler is so stupid. I’m still fuming at my T.V. screen for somebody to help Tatum, Malcolm Brogdon (13 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 2 BLKs), and Grant Williams (9 PTS, 2 REB, 2 AST, 1 BLK) on the coverage!
This isn’t the time for the Celtics to coddle and babysit the rookie coach into the big leagues as this team is in a win-now mode that’s going to be closing soon with Jaylen Brown out of contract this year, Jayson Tatum out of contract in three years, Marcus Smart (7 PTS, 4 REB, 3 AST) out of contract in three years, Al Horford is 36, Robert Williams is injury prone, and the bench can’t be kept together if Brown is given the supermax deal.
As for the superstar fragility, I’m going to hold off on saying Tatum and Jaylen Brown (16 PTS, 4 REB, 3 AST, 7-23 FG shooting) don’t have what it takes to win important games against competent, clutch opponents. But, if they lose Game 3, then all bets are off and I’m going at these two for choking yet ANOTHER PLAYOFF RUN!
Wow, I nearly got ahead of myself just then. We need to wait for the final buzzer to sound in Game 3 to get the all-caps out.
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