To paraphrase the late Dennis Green, the Celtics are who some observers thought they had been.
In the tip, the Celts had been a crew that was far too reliant on the three-point shot to be championship caliber. They obtained away with a clang-fest (7-for-35 in threes) of their dramatic Game 6 win in Miami that was pulled out of the hearth by an incredible Derrick White second. But that’s all it was – a second that simply staved off elimination in Game 6 by a Miami Heat crew that few individuals gave an opportunity towards the extra gifted Celtics.
In Monday’s bloodbath, nonetheless, the Celts obtained what they normally deserve after they shoot badly from three-point land. On the energy of 9-for-42 capturing on threes, the Celts fell to the Heat with a whimper, dropping 103-84 within the mom of all buzzkills. The remaining rating was charitable.
Asked if his crew relied an excessive amount of on the three, coach Joe Mazzulla remained defiant to the tip.
“No,” mentioned the coach flatly.
There may be a number of of us who’d debate the coach on that time this morning.
In an try and make historical past in Game 7 on the Garden, the Celtics’ implosion would have made the Roy siblings proud. All 150 groups that had gone down 0-3 in a best-of-seven collection in NBA historical past had failed to return again and win the collection. Now you can also make it 151, because of a no-show night time of capturing by the Celts that produced an finish to their season, developing brief as soon as once more for his or her quest for Banner 18.
This time, the Celtics couldn’t blame the Garden followers or the environment. At 8:01 p.m., a half hour earlier than tip-off, the group began its first, boisterous “Let’s-Go-Celtics” chant. The hype video that spliced the Red Sox’ 2004 comeback towards the New York Yankees with the Celts’ large moments on this collection obtained the group much more revved up. Kevin Millar did his factor on the Jumbotron. The followers had been able to blow the roof off the Garden.
None of it mattered.
Jayson Tatum harm his ankle on the primary possession of the sport (“I was just a shell of myself after that,” mentioned Tatum) and with one of many top-10 NBA gamers hampered, the Celts’ different top-10 participant was terrible. Jaylen Brown, who famously challenged the followers within the final collection towards Philadelphia, dedicated eight turnovers in a fully brutal efficiency. He was 1-for-9 from behind the stripe and, initially of the fourth quarter, he had extra turnovers than your entire Heat crew.
Brown at the least owned as much as the magnitude of the fur-ball he coughed up.
“Just a terrible game when my team needed me most,” mentioned Brown, who scored a team-high 19 factors however was minus-17. “My team turned to me to make plays and I came up short. I failed.”
Give full marks to Jimmy Butler (28 factors), Caleb Martin (26 factors) and the Heat. It was a frightening environment wherein to spit out what would have been a bitter tablet to swallow. They stared all of it down with some legendary gumption. The Heat didn’t simply win Game 7 on the parquet, they took three out of the 4 video games on Causeway Street, simply as their South Florida ice brethren the Panthers did to the Bruins earlier this spring.
But given all that, the Heat had been there for the taking. They opened the sport not a lot better than their beneficiant hosts. They began out capturing 2-for-11 from the ground. But Miami snapped out of it. The Celtics by no means did.
“I thought we were tight. I thought we played tight,” mentioned Malcolm Brogdon, who tried and did not play by a broken tendon in his forearm. “We played that way at both ends of the ball. I thought Miami played the opposite. I thought they played loose. I thought they executed on the defensive end and offensively I thought they were poised. They weren’t rushed, they weren’t nervous. And I thought Jimmy did what he was supposed to do.”
No one on the Celtics did, nonetheless. They chunked it within the first half, and so they by no means recovered. They missed their first 11 trey makes an attempt and had been 4-from-21 behind the stripe. When they had been clanging it from downtown, they giving the Heat the ball. They dedicated seven first-half turnovers, three by Brown.
Meanwhile, Tatum (14 factors) was making as little influence as doable for a celebrity on this league. On the sport’s first possession, he was gradual to rise up after rolling his left ankle after being fouled by Gabe Vincent. Tatum, who saved the Celts’ season alive with 51 factors of their Game 7 win over the Philadelphia 76ers, had simply seven factors within the first half and missed his solely three try.
The Celtics failed to achieve any momentum popping out of the half and it was a fait accompli halfway by the third quarter.
Now they’re left once more to determine what this crew is lacking. It is evident that one thing is.
Source: www.bostonherald.com