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Bam Adebayo (13) of the Miami Heat and Daniel Theis (27) of the Boston Celtics battle for the ball during the second half of an NBA conference playoff basketball game on Friday, Sept. 25, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The Celtics won 121-108. (AP Photo / Mark J. Terrill)
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida – There have been two undeniable truths about the Miami Heat this season.
They must do 3 to win.
They are not invincible with sizable tracks.
The Boston Celtics have scouting and analytics teams that are certainly aware of these trends. But in reality, so would anyone who can simply read a box.
Take away the Miami 3 and the Heat are easier to beat. The Celtics proved it again in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals when they extended their season with a win, and they will try to make the same touch Sunday night when they face the Heat again in another must-win for Boston.
“They’re going to hit some shots, they’re going to make some plays,” Celtics forward Jayson Tatum said. “They have good players. We’re just trying to make it as difficult as possible. “
The Heat have played 87 games this season and shot below 20% from 3-point range in just three of them, one of them was Friday night, when the Celtics prevailed 121-108 to trim Miami’s lead. in the series at 3-2.
Miami was 7 of 36 from deep, just 19%.
“Regardless of whether he goes in or not, that can’t affect his commitment on the other side of the court,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “And it felt like it was.”
The Celtics limited most of their plans Saturday to a movie session; the Heat were doing the same along with some optional workouts. Heat center Bam Adebayo, who blamed himself for the Game 5 loss despite teammates saying otherwise, said he would spend part of Saturday on the court looking for answers.
“This team has good determination,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said Saturday. “I thought we showed it last night. We will have to continue to demonstrate the ability to handle the good and the bad throughout a game. “
Even though the disappointment was clear Friday night, the Heat still understand where they are: a No. 5 seed, one that didn’t even make the playoffs last season, an NBA Finals victory. It took Miami two tries before it toppled Milwaukee in the second round, and said it learned what level a team must be at to win a closing game.
The Celtics gave them another reminder of that Friday night, when they outscored Miami 70-50 after halftime and erased a 12-point deficit in the second quarter.
“As you go on, the wins just get harder and harder,” Heat guard Duncan Robinson said. “And doing what we want to do and moving forward from this round is going to be the hardest thing we’ve done all season and in our sports careers for many of us. Fortunately, we have coaches and guys who have been there and know what it takes.
“But this is definitely a reminder: to think that we were going to have a good first half and that we are heading towards a victory at this stage of the playoffs, we are wrong to think that.”
Something you need to know before Sunday:
HEAT LIMITS
Miami is 55-32 this season, and 18 of those losses came in games in which the Heat held a double-digit advantage. Boston has beaten Miami four times this season, rebounding from at least 11 fewer points in three of those games, including a pair of 12-point comebacks in this series.
Miami has lost games this year where it led by 10 points once, 11 (four times), 12 (five times), 13 (once), 14 (twice), 15 (once), 20 (once), 22 (twice) and 23 (once).
HEAT IN 3
For whatever reason, 31.1% is the magic number for the Heat’s triples this season.
When the Heat shoot 31.1% or worse from beyond the arc, they are 2-17 (.105). When they shoot better than that, they are 53-15 (.779).
CELTIC CENTERS
Centers Daniel Theis and Enes Kanter gave Boston some big numbers in Game 5. Theis played all but 39 seconds of the second half, longer on the court after halftime than any other Celtic and finished the game with 15 points. and 13 rebounds. Kanter added eight points and four rebounds in 10 minutes.
EIGHT IS ENOUGH
Friday’s game featured three players, Miami’s Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler, Boston’s Marcus Smart, who finished with eight rebounds and eight assists. It was the first time that three players had at least eight rebounds and eight assists in a playoff game since April 28, 2005, when Vince Carter and Jason Kidd did it for New Jersey and Dwyane Wade for Miami.
That Nets-Heat game was a double in overtime. It hadn’t happened in a regulation playoff game since April 10, 1969, when Walt Frazier did it for New York and John Havlicek and Bill Russell did it for Boston.
GREAT FINISH
The Celtics scored 103 points in the final three quarters of Game 5. That tied for the fourth best total in the final 36 regulation minutes they have had this season, and was the most they scored in the final three quarters of a playoff game since June 17, 2008, when they defeated the Los Angeles Lakers for victory in the NBA Finals that season.
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