MIAMI — As the Heat raced up courtroom, persevering with to run away from the Celtics on a play early within the third quarter Sunday evening, Jimmy Butler watched as Gabe Vincent pulled up and drilled one other 3-pointer.
It put the Heat up 23 factors. Joe Mazzulla, mercifully, referred to as a timeout. And then Butler acquired on one knee in entrance of Al Horford, and flashed the “T” timeout signal at him, a response to what Horford did earlier within the collection.
The Heat had been simply trolling the Celtics at this level.
They had been already embarrassing them, humiliating them, no matter description you wished to decide on, and the worst hadn’t even come but. The Celtics trailed by as many as 33 within the third quarter. They had been totally dominated. It regarded as if that they had give up. It was over nicely earlier than Mazzulla pulled many of the starters out to begin the fourth quarter, as they threw the towel.
Not even the Celtics’ backups put up a combat
With their season on the road, the Celtics submitted their worst effort of the season in a spineless 128-102 loss in Game 3 to the Heat right here on the Kaseya Center.
Down 2-0 within the Eastern Conference Finals after dropping the primary two video games at residence, the Celtics knew they needed to have this recreation. Hours earlier than tip on Sunday morning, Jayson Tatum acknowledged the success they’ve had on the street within the postseason as a byproduct of their sense of urgency in such conditions.
“Usually when we go on the road, this year and last year, we’ve had no other choice,” Tatum mentioned. “It was either win or the season was over with. It’s kind of the backs against the wall, gotta figure it out.”
The Celtics didn’t determine it out, and now their season is sort of assuredly over.
No workforce in NBA historical past has ever overcome a 3-0 deficit to win a collection. Some optimists could level to the 2004 Red Sox, who confronted the identical circumstance after a equally devastating 19-8 defeat in Game 3 earlier than reeling off 4 consecutive wins over the Yankees. But these Celtics don’t possess that very same psychological fortitude that willed the Red Sox.
The Celtics have yet another recreation to a minimum of save their satisfaction and dignity.
How might all of it have gone this mistaken?
When the Celtics wanted them essentially the most, their two All-NBA gamers delivered an epic no-show. Tatum scored 14 factors. Jaylen Brown mustered simply 12. They mixed to go 1-for-14 from 3-point vary, a part of a putrid 10-for-38 effort as a workforce. Their protection was, as soon as once more, abysmal. The undrafted Gabe Vincent outscored Tatum and Brown mixed, erupting for 29 factors on 11-for-14 capturing.
It all unraveled for the Celtics within the third quarter, after they merely couldn’t cease the Heat. They trailed by simply seven earlier than Miami took full management with a 27-12 run that appeared worse. Bam Adebayo was dunking over everybody. The Heat’s function gamers had been hitting all the things. Marcus Smart picked up a technical throughout a ruthless stretch, an terrible mixture of dangerous offense and protection on the worst time.
The Celtics by no means recovered.
Other takeaways and notes from the loss:
– The Celtics acquired an enormous name on the finish of the primary quarter that regarded prefer it might spark them. They fell behind by 10 within the closing minute of the opening interval when Robert Williams was whistled for his third foul on a cost on a possible three-point play. But Mazzulla made a name to make use of his problem early and it was profitable. Williams’ third foul was wiped off, his basket counted, and the Celtics trailed by eight.
But the C’s didn’t create any momentum from the sequence, because the Heat’s function gamers acquired scorching they usually took over within the second quarter, earlier than Williams picked up his third halfway by means of the interval.
– The Heat’s trio of Caleb Martin, Gabe Vincent and Duncan Robinson mixed for 41 factors on 12-for-18 capturing within the first half, because the Celtics lacked effort and particulars on the defensive finish and allow them to get free for a lot of open appears to be like. The Celtics weren’t even getting crushed by Miami’s finest. Jimmy Butler solely had two factors when the Heat took a 46-32 lead within the second quarter.
– Brown couldn’t have performed a lot worse in Games 1 and a pair of of this collection, however he regarded like he was on a mission to begin Game 3. He was aggressive, acquired to his mid-range shot with ease and made 4 of his first six photographs. But then he cratered. He fell to the ground on a drive from the basket, and was livid – in addition to the remainder of the Celtics – that he didn’t get a name,
Brown’s shot didn’t look proper after that. He missed six of his closing seven photographs of the half, together with an air-ball on a wide-open look from 3 with 1:07 to go within the first half.
– Towards the tip of the primary half, the Celtics double-teamed Butler on a pair of possessions and compelled turnovers that led to simple factors, as they minimize their deficit to a manageable 15 at halftime. Where was that protection within the first two video games of the collection?
Source: www.bostonherald.com