Everything you need to know about the Celtics' 112-93 win over the Heat with BSJ insight and analysis
HEADLINES
Jaylen and Kemba rally C’s to shorthanded win: Jaylen Brown got a big commitment from the Celtics before the season started and he’s been living up to it with his play in the past few weeks. His effort has been no better than Wednesday night as he posted a season-high 31 points, helping the C’s rally from an 11-point first-half deficit with a 42-15 run in the middle quarters on the way to a 112-93 Boston win. Kemba Walker added 28 points and 7 assists for the shorthanded C’s who played without Marcus Smart (illness) in the victory.
Boston only shot 43 percent on the night but made a living at the free-throw line, doubling up the Heat 32-16 in the win. Semi Ojeleye also played a crucial role in the middle two quarters, posting a +21 with 5 points and a career-high 7 rebounds as he helped stabilize the C’s defense and helped Boston outscore Miami 62-41 in the middle two frames to turn an ugly start into a blowout for Boston.
The C’s improve to 15-5 overall on the year and get another tough test on Friday night in a home date with the Nuggets.
Celtics stay undefeated at home: The C’s certainly benefitted here from a Heat team that was on the second half of a back-to-back coming off an overtime win in Toronto but this was the third convincing win at the Garden over an East contender this season. Boston improved to 8-0 on the year at home, taking care of business consistently in what has been a razor-tight race for the 2-5 seeds at the top of the East early on.
“You try your best to protect home court, and do anything possible,” Walker said. “This is a special place to play – the fans are great, there was great energy, and we want to do our best in front of them.”
TURNING POINT
After falling into an 11-point hole midway through the second quarter, the Celtics took command of the game midway through the frame, closing out the half with a 26-7 run that gave Boston an eight-point lead heading into halftime that they never surrendered.
TWO UP
Semi Ojeleye: The third-year forward continues to carve out a bigger role for himself in the rotation with his defense. He got the call at the start of the second quarter and played 24 straight minutes as the C’s outscored Miami 62-41 in the middle two frames. Ojeleye was big defending on the perimeter and on the glass, collecting a career-high seven rebounds.
Jaylen Brown: After tallying a season-high 31 points on 10-of-20 shooting, Brown is now averaging 22.5 points on 53.3 percent shooting during his last six games. He has scored over 20 points in five of those six contests.
TWO DOWN
Enes Kanter: The Heat are a brutal matchup for him with their perimeter shooting at the big positions and it showed tonight. He did not see the floor in the second half as Brad Stevens opted for smaller lineups.
Jayson Tatum’s field goal percentage: The scoring forward struggled to find the basket for much of the night despite having a terrific impact (+31!) on the game from a team perspective. He went 6-of-20 from the field and just 2-of-12 from 3-point range, dragging his FG percentage down to 40 percent for the season.
TOP PLAY
“I’ll be taking that.” -@Cboogie_3 pic.twitter.com/1acsHAQCPb
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) December 5, 2019
TWO TAKES B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
Brad Stevens played a few puzzling lineups in this one before settling on the right ones: It’s still experimentation season here for Stevens as we saw a couple of double big lineups early (Theis/R. Williams, Kanter/R, Williams) along with a Grant Williams/Theis starting five. None of those groupings worked particularly well early on, especially with a more mobile forward waiting on the bench for action in Semi Ojeleye. Stevens finally found the right formula with Ojeleye/Theis for most of the middle quarters while also moving to a shorter rotation until the game was out of reach late. While it makes sense to try different groupings, a team with so many perimeter shooters like the Heat seemed like a bad mix for the double big look. Ojeleye has been a reliable defensive piece lately and deserves those bench minutes until Hayward returns. He probably should have been the one to start tonight out of the gate but Stevens was wise enough to correct his mistake quickly as he continues to mix and match with this shorthanded group.
It’s hard to beat the Celtics when Kemba Walker plays well: The Heat didn’t really have an answer for Walker from a defensive standpoint with their personnel and the All-Star made them pay all night with 28 points and a game-high 7 assists. The Celtics improved to 11-0 on the year when Walker scores 20 or more points, a promising sign given Walker’s potency as a scorer. Opportunities should only get better for him as Gordon Hayward makes his return to the lineup and with the C’s getting consistent production on the wings from Brown and Tatum as well, this offense has the ability to give some opponents nightmares when Walker is finding good looks.