MIAMI —— The third quarter killed the Celtics last night in Miami. The Heat came out of the half with force and aggression that was absent in the first half of the game.
“They looked like they came out in the second half and wanted to up their physicality and aggression on both ends, and they did that. I don't think we obviously responded well,” Ime Udoka said. “So, flipped very quickly and just lost our composure.”
It’s the big story today, and for good reason. The Celtics were bad on both ends of the floor, they were outscored by 25, and they never fully recovered. However, the stretch that made this third quarter possible actually happened in the first quarter.
The Celtics showed up and hit Miami with a punch they may not have been ready for. Much like Boston in Game 1 against Milwaukee, the Celtics hit the Heat with a punch they weren’t expecting. After a series against Atlanta and a banged-up Sixers team, Boston rolled up to the FTX Arena with a message about what playoff basketball was about.
While it took until the third quarter for the entirety of the Heat to fully respond, Tyler Herro checked into the game in the first and was unfazed. His play in the first quarter held things together long enough for the rest of the Heat to catch up later.
I’ll never miss a chance to tell people that clutch basketball doesn’t just happen in the fourth quarter. Herro was clutch for the Heat in the first.
He checked in for Max Strus with Boston up 14-6 and rolling. They were threatening to put together a first quarter like Miami’s third, and if they did, this game obviously would have gone very differently.
On his first possession, he ran a pick-and-roll with Bam Adebayo that gave him an open 3-pointer
The Celtics defense was just not good enough on this play.
If they're going to play drop coverage on Herro, then two things need to happen. They need to chase hard around the top of the screen, which Derrick White didn't do.
Credit Adebayo for setting a good screen, but White needs to get over the top of it for at least a rear-view challenge. The goal is to run Herro off the 3-point line and into, at best, a mid-range shot.
The other is that Robert Williams needs to be up a bit higher -- high enough to bait Herro into thinking he can drive, but not so high that he’ll actually get past Williams to the rim.
Herro got to step into a nice, comfortable 3-pointer, and he cut the lead down to 5.
Of course, there's being too high, which opens up plays like this:
At this point, they might as well just switch.
White has to get over the top of that screen. If he’s not going to be able to do that, then Boston will have to switch. Frankly, I’m fine with that. Williams can block shots on the perimeter and he can stay with Herro enough to make whatever comes next a little difficult. If Boston wants to get into some late switches off of that, they can make that adjustment.
What can’t happen is the in-between stuff. Williams got up higher on the screen to prevent the 3-pointer, but there's a monster passing lane for the pass to Adebayo. The rotation behind the play is also poor, as there is a chance to get in front of Adebayo to take a charge, but that doesn’t happen, either.
Herro finished the quarter with 7 points, 3 assists, and 2 rebounds, and he finished as a +5. It was 14-6 when he checked into the game. Miami finished the quarter 19-14.
The Celtics were rolling before Herro checked in. They finished the quarter up 28-25, but that's really different from being up 28-15.
Clutch play can happen at any time of the game. If the Celtics were able to carry on through the first quarter like Miami carried through the third, this would be a 1-0 Celtics series lead. But Herro’s first quarter stretch, and Boston’s inability to defend it, swung the game for the Heat by keeping things close enough early that their third quarter run was as decisive as it was.
"I just wanted to come in and provide a spark, whether scoring, making plays for my teammates, whatever it is," Herro said. "Just coming in and not having any drop-off from the starting five to the second unit that comes in. So just wanted to be aggressive and get everyone involved."
If Boston had been up double-digits after the first quarter, and if they’d added to that by halftime, then it’s conceivable that Miami’s third quarter run doesn’t lead to a 20-point lead. It's conceivable that Boston’s answer to that Miami run actually retakes the lead rather than cut the Heat lead to three.
The Celtics can’t lose Herro again like they did in Game 1. Whether it’s early or late, he can swing a game, and each game can swing a series. He helped swing Game 1 before the game actually swung in Miami’s favor by keeping his team close enough pounce later on.