With Marcus Smart, Al Horford back anchoring Celtics’ defense, Jimmy Butler & Heat have work cut out for them

Jimmy Butler and the Heat had a clear avenue to take if they wanted to chalk up the Celtics’ Game 2 blowout win in the Eastern Conference Finals to “just one of those nights”. 

After all, on a night in which the Celtics drilled 63 percent of their shots from 3-point range in the first half — helping turn what was an 18-8 Miami lead into an eventual 70-45 Celtics advantage — the only suitable course of action for the Heat to take was to simply shrug their shoulders.

The Celtics certainly aren’t going to connect on 20 of 40 trey attempts every single night, offering some silver lining to Butler and Co. that Boston’s 127-102 drubbing on Thursday night at FTX Arena was an unstainable outlier, more than an ominous sign of things to come. 

“They made shots that they missed last game,” Butler said postgame. “That's just what it is. It's going to be hard to beat anybody when they shoot 50 percent from the field and 50 percent from the three.”

That’s all well and true.

But what is a bit tougher to dismiss is the Celtics’ renewed swagger on defense — the bread and butter of Boston’s success throughout this second-half surge and subsequent run through the Eastern Conference playoff bracket. 

And that response should come as no surprise, given the C’s personnel that was ready for deployment in wake of Tuesday’s disheartening Game 1 result. 

With Marcus Smart and Al Horford cleared to return from a foot sprain and health/safety protocols, respectively, the Celtics thwarted Butler and the Heat’s efforts to try and tread water offensively while getting flooded by Boston’s barrage of 3-pointers. 

After a 41-point performance in Game 1, Butler praised his team’s ability to dictate play due to their physicality, noting that he’s at his best when he gets to “run into people and see who falls down first.”

But against a fellow scraper in Smart, Butler met his match, with the C’s shutdown option drawing plenty of assignments against the star forward and regularly contesting his looks. 

“Aas a Defensive Player of the Year, night in, night out, taking that matchup and being able to play on both sides of the ball, that's crucial for them,” Butler said of Smart. “He was a big part of them winning this game tonight, along with Al Horford, and obviously J.T. and J.B. do what they do. But they came out and willed that organization, that team to a W.”

With Smart hounding Butler and Horford anchoring Boston’s defensive structure in the paint, Erik Spoelstra and the Heat had a much tougher time exploiting mismatches and finding faults in Boston’s scheme, especially when it came to converting on pick-and-roll opportunities. 

That added layer of fortitude ensured by Smart/Horford’s return, along with continued good health from Rob Williams, also allowed Boston to bottle up Butler’s go-to lane for offense — at the free-throw line. 

After taking 18 free throws in Game 1, Butler only managed to secure three in the first half as Boston built its lead, a byproduct of few easy avenues to the basket. 

“He gave them a lot of confidence,” Gabe Vincent said of Smart. “Obviously, defensively he did what he did. He packed the paint. He made some plays offensively, and as the game went on, he got more comfortable and more and more comfortable and started making some shots. You saw him fill it up in the second half."

Of course, Smart’s impact was felt beyond just his defensive acumen, with the guard dropping 24 points and recording nine rebounds, 12 assists and three steals over 40 minutes of action, while only committing one turnover. 

With Smart back serving as the conductor of Boston’s offense, the Celtics were able to churn up a perfect symphony of lights-out shooting — with Smart joining the barrage with five 3-pointers of his own. And even though Smart ultimately finished just 8-for-22 from the field, he sure picked his spots well.

After a third-quarter surge from Miami cut Boston’s lead to 17 points, Smart dropped Max Strus with an ankle breaker and subsequent bucket — swinging momentum back in Boston’s favor en route to a 10-2 run that put the C’s back in cruise control. 

“They came out and hit us in the mouth,” Bam Adebayo said. “We don't know how to respond.”

The Miami Heat, much like the Celtics following Game 1, were stewing following Thursday’s result. 

Perhaps that frustration is the byproduct of a night in which their opponent was borderline unconscious from beyond the arc. 

Or maybe, just maybe, it has a little something to do with the turmoil and hair-pulling exasperation that tends to follow teams plagued by a defensive pest like Smart. 

You can take your pick on which one it was. But one of those factors is going to be a lot more sustainable over the course of this best-of-seven series. 

“They tried to embarrass us. They did embarrass us,” Butler said. “So I think we got to realize that, use it as fuel, whatever you want to say, but realize the game can get out of hand when you're playing against a really good team like them that can score the ball and get stops. Overall, we have to be better. We have a tough job to do to go over there and win, but if they did it, we can do it, as well."