The Miami Heat, much like the Celtics in the immediate aftermath of lopsided losses in these Eastern Conference Finals, easily could save a hefty chunk of time off of their postgame pressers by simply shrugging their shoulders.
“I mean, I don't know how to explain it,” Victor Oladipo said in his best attempt at the aforementioned ploy. “It's wild, right?”
For all of the stakes in play for both Boston and Miami over these past six days, the momentum and prevailing narratives that typically carry over from game to game in a best-of-seven bout have been about as disjointed and fragmented as a Green Line train’s schedule during rush hour.
(Or, frankly, any time of day.)
Yes, adjustments are a necessity in the postseason — with lineup shuffles, revamped defensive schemes and an emphasis on certain mismatches serving as the in-game retorts that can often swing the fortunes of games decided by single digits.
But that’s been far from the case in this series.
Going into Monday’s Game 4 showdown at TD Garden, you could have easily made the argument that the Celtics have “won” 10 of their 12 quarters against Miami.
But the swings that have fallen in the Heat’s favor have been so dominant (a 39-14 third quarter in Game 1; a 39-18 first quarter in Game 3), that Miami still managed to hold a 2-1 series edge.
And after punching the Celtics in the mouth in Game 3, the Heat sure looked like a team that was smelling blood in the water. Aside from the energy-sapping letdown that came from a loss on Saturday decided by costly turnovers and a no-show performance from Jayson Tatum, the Celtics were also going to be hampered by the absence of Marcus Smart – ruled out just ahead of the opening tip-odd due to an ankle sprain.
Perhaps that’s discounting a Celtics squad that, under Ime Udoka, has proven time and time again that it’s not going to hit the mat even after taking one off the chin. But if there was ever an opportunity for the Heat to finally get rolling and give themselves some breathing room in this wacky series, Game 4 was going to be it.
And that enthusiasm and opportunity waned with every bricked jumper that Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry and the rest of the Heat attempted in the opening minutes of Monday’s matchup.
By the time Oladipo finally sank the first field goal of the night for the Heat, there was only 3:21 remaining in the first quarter – and Boston’s lead was already 18-4.
That lead was one that the Celtics did not relinquish in an eventual 102-82 victory — a series-tying conquest that, par for the course, was a far cry from what transpired just 48 hours earlier on the same parquet floor.
“We're not making any excuses,” Erik Spoelstra said. “They outplayed us tonight for sure. We never could get any kind of grip on the game. Outside of these like crazy runs, you have two really competitive teams. The scores and that kind of thing don't really give the true indication of how competitive it is. It can get away from either team at any time. That's what you saw tonight.
"It's really tough to really evaluate. We were just so poor to start that game. A lot of it was our offensive execution, the lack of doing it with force and intention and purpose. And then we just dug ourselves a hole and at that point we couldn't get back and get a grip on this game. You have to credit Boston. They took control of it early. I wouldn't single out any -- you could pick any player on our roster. We are built to really flourish together and utilize all of our menu and our weapons. Certainly Jimmy and Bam and Kyle and Tyler, they drive a lot of those first triggers. But we did a lot of things poorly offensively.”
Of course, on a night in which Miami’s starting five of Butler, Lowry, Bam Adebayo, P.J, Tucker and Max Strus combined for a whopping 18 points (the fewest by a starting five in a playoff game since 1971), plenty of credit needs to be directed to Boston.
Be it Robert Williams' return to the court, a stout defensive showing from Al Horford, a scorching start from Derrick White or a much-needed bounce-back showing from Tatum, the Celtics made things difficult for Miami down both ends of the court — snuffing out any hope for a late-game turnaround for Spoelstra’s club.
But from Butler’s viewpoint, a lot of Miami’s woes were a byproduct of self-inflicted miscues or stubborn play.
“I think that's on us,” Butler said. "We settled for too many mid-range jump shots, myself included. A lot of shots behind the three that weren't even good ones, at that. Ain't nothing more than that.”
Of course, like in most cases in which two sides present differing views, the answer is probably somewhere in the middle.
Yes, the Celtics clamped down, executed and didn’t let things get away from them against the Heat — a team that also found itself sputtering at the starting line due to missing on a number of easy looks.
Given how this series has gone so far, it wouldn’t come as much of a surprise to see yet another lopsided score etched with finality on the scoreboard down at FTX Arena in Game 5.
But, as Spoelstra was quick to note, that’s not an indictment on the two teams looking to survive this wacky, stop-and-go series — especially with a trip to the NBA Finals on the line.
“This is nothing about a matter of want,” Spoelstra said. “Look, I understand the narratives and you can easily point to, they had desperation and urgency and we didn't. You can say that whoever is coming off of a loss is now, for sure, having more of an edge. Sometimes when you have two really competitive teams, it doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be a one-point game. It means that it can be flammable either way. Both teams are ignitable.
"Both teams can really defend and get teams out of their comfort zone and distort a lot of things offensively, and that can fuel big runs on the other end. We just weren't able to get that tonight. They were. And so we have to just get ready for Game 5, and get ready for the next competition.Our guys want this. It's not a matter of that. It's just a matter of you're facing good competition. We all have to collectively find a way to figure this out together.”