![]() ![]() “We get tired of doing a little thing sometimes,” Smart said. Their improved defensive intensity in the second helped them build a 13-point lead, but that all vanished in the third.įor whatever reason, Boston simply gets comfortable despite the stage, a mistake that Miami rarely makes in the playoffs. Outside of the third, the Celtics won every single quarter. It’s just coming out and guarding your yard.” They didn’t change anything from the first half that they weren’t doing. “The only thing we need to adjust to is picking up our physicality and playing some damn defense,” said Marcus Smart. Didn’t guard the three-point line.”īut for as bad as Boston’s execution was on the defensive end, their intensity was somehow worse. “Allowed them to get out in transition and get second-chance shots. “Lost our gameplan discipline,” said head coach Joe Mazzulla. Every decision Boston made, Miami punished. Jimmy Butler destroyed the Celtics from the mid-range, kicking out to shooters when Boston sent help at him. Miami’s shooters were getting wide-open looks off of Boston’s ill-advised double teams.īam Adebayo was living in the restricted area, feasting on dump-off passes. Throughout the postseason, the Heat have been hot from beyond the arc (37.8%), but Boston looked completely lost. That included nine fast-break points, 10 second-chance points, and eight points off four Boston turnovers. The Heat outscored the Celtics 46-25 in the third quarter, shooting 17-of-26 (65.4%) from the field and 6-of-9 (66.6%) from behind the three-point line. A lot of things that we can control to be better at.” “We had some turnovers, spacing, defensive coverages that we got mixed up on that we went over today in shootaround. “Sometimes we didn’t get back,” Jayson Tatum said of the third quarter. It was the Heat’s third-highest-scoring game of the postseason and the first time they’ve cracked 110 points since the first round.īoston failed to execute on the defensive end from start to finish, but the third quarter highlighted all their failures. Miami tacked on 123 points, including a 46-point third quarter after Boston held the 76ers to 86 and 88 points in Game 6 and 7 respectively. The gameplan should be defense.”ĭespite their berth into Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics have not strung together consistent defensive performances throughout the playoffs. “And defensively tonight, we weren’t good enough. “Defense is going to help us propel to where we want to get to,” Jaylen Brown said after the Celtics’ Game 1 loss to the Miami Heat. More goes into a title run than just defense.īut in the case of the Boston Celtics, when their defense is clicking on all gears, it’s easy to picture Banner 18 hanging in the rafters. Originally delivered by football coach Bear Bryant, the cliche has turned into an end-all, be-all when it comes to sports, including basketball. The adage “defense wins championships” is often overused. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |