BSJ Game Report: Heat 90, Celtics 89 -- Tension surfaces in Olynyk revenge game taken at TD Garden (Celtics)

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Celtics

BSJ Game Report: Heat 90, Celtics 89 -- Tension surfaces in Olynyk revenge game

By Brian Robb

Dec 21, 2017 • 12:12 am

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The Celtics had no answer for Kelly Olynyk in the second half.

Those are 12 words I didn’t expect to type on Wednesday night. The seven-footer scored 25 of his career-high 32 points after intermission, pushing the Miami Heat to a comeback 90-89 win at the TD Garden.

The C’s were forced to defend the seven-footer for the final eight minutes of this affair without Al Horford (frustration foul out) and that created problems on the defensive end, including one pivotal sequence that led to Jaylen Brown’s benching and showed one of the first signs of on-court tension all year long with this team.



Josh Richardson drove the ball to the left from the top of the key with Jayson Tatum trailing him. He used a pick from Olynyk to create some additional separation, leaving Tatum with no chance to stick with him as he approached the paint. Brown refused to switch on the drive, staying home on Olynyk, which gave Richardson a wide-open drive to the rim and an easy 3-point play, putting an end to a 6-0 Celtics run and pushing the Heat lead back up to seven points with less than five minutes remaining.

Immediately after the play, there was finger-pointing. Brown tried to plead his philosophy to Tatum, but Kyrie Irving immediately gave the second-year guard an earful for the miscommunication. Brad Stevens let Brown have it from the bench as well and decided to pull the 21-year-old for a few minutes in favor of Semi Ojeleye. Brown was eventually subbed back in a couple minutes later, but the C's weren't able to claw their way back from the deficit after the miscue.

“We made a couple of errors you cannot make – missed switches, Kelly’s fakes, those just can’t happen,” Stevens said after the game.

“It was just a miscommunication and I was really passionate about it,” Brown explained. “More mad at myself than anything. I've got to come back in and help my team out, but it was just a miscommunication. I was just frustrated at myself.”

Brown’s problems on the defensive end have become more common lately. He’s got a lot on his plate on a nightly basis right now (carrying a scoring burden on the offensive end as well), and this is a brutal stretch of the schedule for the C’s. However, the Celtics simply couldn’t afford giving up these kinds of open looks on a night where they shot a paltry 37 percent from the field.

The focus and attention to detail needs to be better from this group right now, since giving up 54 points in the second half to a Miami team without four key rotation players isn’t an acceptable result. The problems tonight went beyond Brown, but this sequence was indicative of the struggles this team has had for a few weeks now. Rest is coming in January, but the focus needs to be turned up until then for them to survive this stretch.

Everything you need to know about the Heat 90-89 win in quickie form.

HEADLINES

Zone defense leads to stalled Celtics offense: The Celtics lost this game in the third quarter when they shot themselves out of the gate against a Heat 2-3 zone defense. The hosts mustered just 15 points on 17 shots in the frame, going 2-of-11 from downtown as they found themselves relying on an outside jumper that wasn’t there. The drought turned an eight-point deficit into nine-point Heat lead and the C’s ran out of time to close the gap.   

Olynyk revenge game: The seven-footer brought back memories of his Game 7 explosion against the Wizards in the Eastern Conference Semifinals with this performance. The former Celtic erupted for a career-high 32 points in his return to the Garden on 12-of-15 shooting despite matching up with Horford for much of the night. He also made a career-high six 3-pointers in the win, punishing the C’s with outside shooting and his patented ball fakes that opened up drives to the rim.   





Ugly loss:
The Heat were without four key rotation players (Whiteside, Dragic, Winslow, James Johnson) and still managed to hand the Celtics their eighth loss of the season. Any team can win on any night in the NBA (the Rockets lost at home to the Lakers on Wednesday night too), but this was a performance littered with ugly stretches and unacceptable defensive mistakes. The Celtics are playing a lot of inconsistent basketball lately (despite their record) and it showed tonight.
 
 
 


TURNING POINT


A 19-4 run midway through the third quarter turned an eight-point Heat deficit into a seven-point lead for the visitors. The Celtics were completely flummoxed by Miami’s switch to a zone defense over this seven-minute stretch, and shot 4-of-17 overall from the field in the third quarter.  


SECOND GUESS


Kyrie Irving
had a chance at a game-winning shot with six seconds remaining, but it took him awhile to get into his drive after receiving the inbounds. That gave him limited time to get a decent shot up, essentially forcing him into a long jumper before time expired. That play combined Marcus Smart hanging out on the right wing (which allowed his defender to help on Irving’s drive) created a less than ideal sequence for the potential game-winner.  






TWO UP


Kelly Olynyk:
What a homecoming for the former Celtics big man. Olynyk made seven-straight baskets in one span of the game on his way to topping his previous career-high (30 points last season). “
It was definitely satisfying,” Olynyk said after the game. “Not only because of how the game went but we dropped one two nights ago that was pretty big for us, and to come in here and steal one on their court, it’s not an easy thing to do.


Jaylen Brown, in first quarter:
The shooting guard started the game red-hot from the field, going 5-of-7 over the opening frame for 12 points, including a pair of makes from 3-point range. He only mustered four points over the rest of the game though.


TWO DOWN


Aron Baynes:
His lack of speed made him a defensive liability at times against the wing-heavy Heat lineup and he couldn’t hit wide-open jumpers from anywhere the floor. He was 0-of-5 from the field and was benched after just a few minutes at the start of the second half.  
 


Al Horford:
The All-Star big man had an awful shooting night (2-of-10) and then compounded the issue by getting physical despite having five fouls early in the fourth quarter. After giving the official an earful on a previous call (a bad one), that same official was happy to whistle Horford for No. 6 when he was given the chance. The 31-year-old needed to be smarter with how he played in that situation (even if the calls were questionable).


INJURY REPORT


Jayson Tatum
suffered a dislocated right pinky in the first quarter after diving to the floor but returned to the game after getting it popped back into place. He finished with 11 points and seven rebounds and expects to play in New York Thursday night.   


TOP PLAY






ONE TAKE B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER


The scoring droughts are becoming troublesome:
While the Celtics’ offense has been much better overall in the past few weeks, the long droughts continue to be an issue nearly every game during this recent stretch. Whether it’s poor ball movement, ugly shooting, or a lack of talent on the floor, Brad Stevens needs to find a way to combat this problem. The looming return of Marcus Morris will help, but he’s not going to be at his best when he does. Outside help needs to be brought in if a solution isn’t found soon.  
 

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