Everything you need to know about the Celtics' 121-108 win over the Heat with BSJ insight and analysis:
Box Score
Celtics force Game 6 behind dominant second half: Jayson Tatum scored 21 of his 31 points in the second half, helping the Celtics fight back from a 12-point first half deficit with a dominant final 24 minutes to win 121-108 and force a Game 6 on Sunday night. Jaylen Brown added 28 points and eight rebounds while Daniel Theis posted his first double-double of the series (15 points, 13 rebounds) in what was easily his best game of the postseason.
The Celtics outscored the Heat 70-50 in the second half, using a 20-3 run to start the third quarter to jumpstart the turnaround, setting the tone for a terrific performance that was sustained all half by Boston. Six different players scored in double figures for the C’s, while Miami struggled with its 3-point shot all night long, going 7-of-36 from beyond the arc which led to a quiet second half offensively for the Heat beyond Goran Dragic (team-high 23 points).
The Celtics and Heat will face off in Game 6 on Sunday night at 7:30 p.m.
Tatum’s aggression pays off: The All-Star became the first Celtics player to post three games of 30 points and 10 rebounds before age 23 in the postseason and it largely came thanks to his attacking mentality. The Celtics put Miami in the penalty early in the third quarter and Tatum took advantage, putting his head down and daring contact from Miami’s undersized wings to pile up 10 of his game-high 14 free throws in the second half. The Celtics struggled with their 3-point shot during the comeback (6-of-22 from deep) but it didn’t matter since the aggression of Tatum and Brown at the basket (C’s were 15-of-21 in the paint) made up for it, spring boarding the C’s into a Game 6 on Sunday.
TURNING POINT
The Celtics opened up the third quarter on a 20-3 run, turning the tables on the Heat after trailing for the entire first half amid a sluggish shooting start. Boston kept their foot on the gas for the entire second half, scoring 70 points in the final two frames to eliminate any chance of a Heat comeback.
TWO UP
Jaylen Brown: The only Celtic who showed some useful aggression early. He become the first Celtic to hit double figures and kept rolling from there, scoring a series-high 28 points while shooting over 50 percent from the field for the fourth consecutive game.
Enes Kanter: The big man provided an offensive boost for the Celtics off the bench, knocking down his first four shots in the post to score eight points in eight first half minutes, which helped Boston’s offense stay afloat during a miserable shooting start.
TWO DOWN
Heat 3-point shooting: Miami is known for its 3-point weapons but none of them showed up in this game with any real consistency. The team shot a playoff-worst 19 percent from 3-point range with Dragic, Jae Crowder and Jimmy Butler combining to go 1-of-15.
First quarter offense: The Celtics shot 25 percent from the field and 3-point range in the opening 12 minutes, low lighted by a 1-of-12 start to the night in terms of shooting. The offense was over reliant on 3s that weren’t falling and didn’t get going until Kanter got into the game.
TOP PLAY
straight to the hoop ?? pic.twitter.com/J6vdCflHAw
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) September 26, 2020
The Celtics zone offense looks a lot different when Theis is willing to make shots: The German big man has not had a steady jump shot all postseason and that really limited his impact against a Heat zone in the first four games in this series. However, he came alive after intermission, posting a double-double in the second half alone with easily his best game of the series. Most importantly for Boston, he gained some confidence in the middle of the Heat’s 2-3 zone, showing some aggression to punish Miami’s wings for sticking to shooters by knocking down a couple mid-range jumpers. Those makes and a few terrific screens at the top of the key kept Miami from throwing Boston out of rhythm for the entire second half offensively and largely caused them to abandon the zone in the fourth quarter. Theis isn’t going to play this well every night, but him turning into an offensive threat can change Boston’s offense from good to great in a hurry. The Heat didn’t have an answer for that and all of Boston’s other weapons tonight.
This is the kind of fight that this team has shown all year: The opportunities were there for the Celtics to throw in the towel early in this one. A 12-point first half deficit, a 1-of-12 shooting start to the game and loose/deflected balls falling Miami’s way early. The Celtics haven’t been a team to let go of the rope all season though and it showed in Game 5. They remained within striking distance despite the ugly start thanks to Kanter and then didn’t let up for the final 24 minutes once they found their rhythm on the offensive end. It was a stretch of basketball we hadn’t seen from the C’s since perhaps Game 5 of the Raptors series — with dominant play on both ends of the floor. The shots went to the right people (Tatum, Brown), defensive mistakes were eliminated and a championship contender re-emerged. Boston probably won’t get the benefit of the Heat shooting 19 percent from 3 in this series again, but the C’s were adamant about getting good looks inside (52 paint points in the final three quarters) and that aggressiveness led to the comeback.