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CHICAGO – For the past two games in this Eastern Conference final, the Miami Heat have been playing with fire, losing by double digits in points before somehow coming off the safe side and sheltering a 2-0 lead in the Serie.
The third time was not the charm. This one only brought harm.
Overcome by smoke and flames from Boston’s green and black aggression, Miami was unable to find the familiar escape hatch and passed out in the horror house that was Game 3.
Celtics 117. Heat 106.
“They came out, Boston did, with great force in this game,” said Heat coach Erik Speolstra. The Miami Herald after the Celtics threw the first punch and mounted a balanced and sustained assault for 48 minutes.
Even for the intrepid and resilient Heat, a 102-82 deficit with 7:13 left in the fourth quarter was too much to ask for.
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There are many ways to see how Game 3 got to where it ended, but the shortest and easiest to get there is to understand that the Celtics just got more aggressive, took better quality shots, and all of their stars played as advertised.
After taking just 47 free throws in the last two games, the Celtics had 30 in Game 3 and converted 26.
They tried just 26 3-pointers in Game 3 compared to 70 in Games 1 and 2. Instead, the Celtics went to the basket hard and often, resulting in a 60-36 lead in points scored. in the paint.
Previously hounded by Miami’s 2-3 zone, the Celtics found an antidote in less dribbling and sharper passing, a ploy that gave them 27 assists. And they also triumphed in the rebounding battle, 50-42.
“I thought we were a really special group, a really good group,” Celtics head coach Brad Stevens said. The Boston Globe after walking away from a 0-3 hole that no team in NBA playoff history has ever come out of.
SPECIAL, NO DOUBTS. AND ALSO DANGEROUS.
Jaylen Brown led the Celtics’ resurgence with 26 points on 11-of-17 shooting, while Jaysom Tatum added 25 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists. And Kemba Walker scored 21, quietly coming off a slump by scoring half of his 16 field goals and half of his eight 3-pointers.
But for me, the MVP of Game 3 for the Celtics was Marcus Smart.
Not only did he score 20 and grab four rebounds with six assists, his defense, which deserved recognition from all of the NBA this season, shackled Miami’s Goran Dragic.
In Games 1 and 2, the 34-year-old Dragic turned the clock back by averaging 27 points for every while shooting 55.3 percent of his field goals and 46.2 percent of his 3s.
But against Smart, a lithe, physical defender who is eight years younger and 30 pounds heavier, Dragic looked old and slow. The Slovenian Dragon had his wings clipped, pushed away from his comfort spots and intimidated into five turnovers while hitting just two of 10 shots for 11 points.
When Coach Spo watches the movie with his staff and performs a Game 3 autopsy, the internal bleeding from the Celtics’ points within the paint and the play paralysis suffered by Dragic, leading to the horrendous Miami shooting ( 12 of 44 of 3 and 33 of 85 in total). ), will induce careful thinking.
“I think it gets old, playing from behind consistently,” Jimmy Butler said.
MORE OF SPIN
Oh, that one too. Quickly add it to your “don’ts” list.
Without a win to deodorize him, Game 3 showed that chronic slow starts can lead to frequent losses.
In a sun-drenched paradise that is predominantly Spanish-speaking, Butler is lovingly referred to in Miami as “Tremendous balls,” which loosely translates to a guy with big balls.
More than ever before, the Heat need Jimmy’s leadership, toughness and tenacity to quell this Celtics uprising.
