BSJ Game Report: Miami Heat 106, Boston Celtics 98 - Frustrated Celtics shrink down the stretch

Everything you need to know about the Boston Celtics' loss to the Miami Heat, with BSJ insight and analysis.

IN A NUTSHELL

This definitely had a playoff feel to it, with both teams landing haymakers on one another and each reaching into a bag of tricks to try to pull out the win. The Celtics built a 7 point lead early and Miami came back. The Heat built an 11 point lead in the third and Boston muscled their way through it. Then in the fourth quarter, Miami threw a zone at Boston and things ground to a halt. Miami executed better after that while the Celtics missed makeable shots and then got too frustrated with the officiating. The Heat closed the game on an 11-2 run.

Box Score 

HEADLINES

Zoned out: There's a reason why I mentioned this before the game. The Celtics had been better against the zone but they still haven't faced perhaps the league’s best zone defense team since their big turnaround. All the momentum they’d built in the third quarter when they closed on a 20-10 run was erased by the zone early in the fourth. 

Frustration boils over: Marcus Smart got tossed when the game was essentially over, when he was finally able to use whatever choice language he wanted to use to make his point to the officials. Boston’s players, especially Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Smart, were too bothered all night by the non-calls. Ime Udoka was too, and he had a conversation with officials after the game to let them know about it. 

“Just saying we love consistency,” he explained. “Some calls that they made early in the game we didn’t get down the stretch. A lot of flopping that they fell for, so mentioned some of those things, but we have to play through it and we had opportunities. Whether they called it or not we have to continue to thrive and be aggressive and find outlets and force them to make a call, basically. So, our guys didn’t play well through it. But on to the next and something you’re going to have to deal with. It’s not always going to go your way in the playoffs as far as the calls from the officials.”

Quest for the top seed might be over: It was nice while it lasted, but the loss to Miami now puts Boston two games back with five games to play. Miami closes with winnable games, but against teams with something meaningful to play for (Toronto, Chicago, Charlotte, and Atlanta are all jockeying for playoff/play-in positioning). Boston has tougher opponents, especially Milwaukee and Memphis, but those two teams might be resting players with seeding locked in. It’s a tall order, but it’s not impossible. Considering the priority of getting guys healthy, though, it might just be easier to land at third or fourth and deal with what comes next.

TURNING POINT

Derrick White hit a 3-pointer with 4:21 to go in the game to cut Miami’s lead to 1, but Boston then went cold, not scoring again until Tatum’s layup with 1:40 to go. Amazingly, Miami only scored points over that same stretch, but all that shows how many opportunities they missed. The Celtics were 0-5 in that stretch (Brown was 0-4).

ONE UP 

Daniel Theis: He was 6-6 from the field, catching passes up high and finishing strong. 

“He's not jumping like Rob but he's a lob threat. We know that,” Udoka said. “However, we got to deliver, we got to deliver it. We missed some opportunities, had some turnovers trying to force some passes tonight but Daniel had a great game overall. You can see his growth, what he's doing the past few games. It's going to be important going forward.”

As far as I’m concerned, he's the only player who had a flat-out good game. 

ONE DOWN

Grant Williams: Hard to say it with any real tact. He was terrible in this game. He missed defensive assignments which contributed to breakdowns and Miami baskets. He was pulled after a couple of minutes in the third quarter because of his defensive issues and he wasn’t even making up for it on the other end. Some days are just bad days, and this was easily one of the worst for Grant. 

As far as I’m concerned, he’s the only player who had a flat-out bad game. So let’s dive into this middle ground. 

FOUR UP AND DOWN

Jayson Tatum: On the up side, he had 23 points on 53% shooting, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals. Not a bad night as far as the stats go. But he had 2 points in the fourth quarter on only 3 shots and he got WAY too wrapped up in the officiating. On a night where the Celtics PR staff started making their case for Tatum to be MVP and All-NBA, Tatum just played alright. 

Jaylen Brown: He carried Boston early, as usual, with 11 first-quarter points. He finished the game with 28 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists, which is awesome, but he was 2-10 in the fourth, including that 0-5 stretch later in the fourth quarter. The Miami Heat blocked six shots in this game, and five of them were Brown’s. 

Al Horford: 15 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and a blocked shot is an awesome night from Horford, except he was only 2-6 from the field and he was a team-worst -14 on the night. He was the focus of Miami’s offensive attack and he let too many passes get past him in pick-and-rolls that led to Miami baskets. 

Marcus Smart: When I say Smart was slinging some dimes, brother let me tell you this dude was SLINGING. SOME. DIMES. His passing was tremendous and a big reason why Boston built its big early lead. He was also making some defensive plays that certainly make the argument for Defensive Player of the Year. But he also had 6 turnovers and he shot 3-10 from 3, which is not what the Celtics need from him. He also got tossed at the end of the game for, ahem, airing his grievances. 

TOP PLAYS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- Start Daniel Theis

Grant Williams being terrible and Theis being awesome might simply have been a function of PJ Tucker being a bad matchup for Grant and Dewayne Dedmon being a good one for Theis. I also know Grant has worked alongside Horford for much of the season, but this is part of why I think Theis should start for Robert Williams. 

Exhibit A is his performance in this game, which showed he can exploit defenses and finish plays at the rim. He has the ability to play a similar -- not the same -- role as Robert Williams has. The best way to see how this can translate overall is to start him over the rest of the regular season and see if he can just slot into that role. 

Maybe the final determination is that it’s still going to have to be matchup-based, but we already know that's the case at the moment. Maybe by starting Theis, the Celtics can discover something more in him in this particular role. 

This has long-reaching effects on the team. If he can just step into that role it will mean he’s creating just enough space for drivers to get to the rim or for kickouts to shooters. Even if he’s not quite as dangerous as Rob, he could still prove to be dangerous. 

He also adds some element of shooting, at least in the mid-range. He’s an added offensive threat who could be problematic for defenses. 

And it also keeps the bench intact. Grant Williams can come off the bench and take better advantage of secondary players. 

They need to see more of Theis with the main guys. He should start Friday night so the team can get a good look at what he can do in that role.