BSJ Game Report: Celtics 110, Heat 97 - C's shoot the lights out, force Game 6 in Miami

Everything you need to know about the Celtics Eastern Conference Finals Game 5 win over the Miami Heat, with BSJ insight and analysis

IN A NUTSHELL

Boston stormed out of the gates with a 35-20 first quarter that saw them go 7-12 from deep. Derrick White hit all 3, while Jayson Tatum was attacking and finishing strong. Jaylen Brown woke up in the 2nd quarter, scoring 12 points as Boston finished strong after the lead dropped to 11. The offensive flow stopped in the third with Brown searching for more of his offense but Boston kept making momentum-stopping shots to keep their lead and actually bump it up to 18 into the fourth. The Celtics got the lead up to 24 in the fourth and mostly coasted from there. 

Box Score

HEADLINES

- Monster effort: THIS is the Celtics team we remember. They came out to a huge lead and never truly let it get out of hand after that. Miami cut it to 11 at one point and there was a brief bout of nerves when it got to 16 in the fourth quarter, but Boston won this game because they matched the effort Miami has been bringing all season. 

- 3-pointers fall again: You want the most Joe Mazzulla stat to overly simplify this game? Boston took 39 3-pointers while Miami took 23. 

That might be worth a quick chuckle, but Miami was 40-78 overall in this game and Boston was 40-79. But the Celtics were 16-39 from 3 while Miami was 9-23. Getting out-scored by 21 at the 3-point line is tough to overcome. 

- Big-time defense: For the second game in a row, Boston forced 16 turnovers for 27 points. As much as I focus on 3-pointers, getting these turnovers and getting extra possessions out of them is really where Boston won this game. The turnovers lead to transition opportunities, which leads to better looks from deep. 

Also, they finally defended without fouling. Miami only got 10 free throw attempts, 6 from Jimmy Butler. One of the ways they did it was finally staying down on pump-fakes. 

“It's definitely key to keep him off the free throw line,” Mazzulla said. “They're a team that can generate free throws and put pressure on your defense, so just staying disciplined in that is important.”

TURNING POINT

The lead was down to 11 with 4:31 to go in the second quarter. Three minutes later, at 1:31, the lead was 20 thanks to a 12-3 run. The Heat never really challenged after that. 

FIVE UP 

Derrick White: Big-time from White in this game, who went 6-8 from deep on his way to a game-high 24 points. And he was very good on the other end as well, bothering Butler, holding his own against Butler’s bully ball, and staying down on most fakes. 

“Big-time player, big-time shots tonight. D-White came ready to play,” Brown said. “As soon as they gave him any space, he let it fly, and he got hot from downtown. Not just on offense but on defense. His aggressiveness is key. They try to put him into matchups at times, and his ability to be able to block shots, chase guys off shooters, guard the best player, get out in transition, that's the greatest shot. That's really key for our team.”

Boston doesn’t lose often when White plays like this. 

Marcus Smart: He set the tone right away. He got a steal on the opening possession that led to a layup. He then smartly drove instead of settling for a 3 to get a layup. And THEN his 3s started to fall (he was 4-6). 

“Smart was just a beast tonight,” Brown said. “Marcus on both sides of the ball was incredible tonight. It was a great performance from him.”

Jayson Tatum: A nice, cool, efficient night for him as he dropped 21 points and 11 assists. Defensively, he had 8 rebounds and 2 steals. Weirdly, the early tech might have been good for Tatum because he had to control his emotions after that for fear of getting tossed. He played under control the rest of the way. 

Jaylen Brown: Aside from a third-quarter stretch where things stagnated as Brown looked for his own offense, this was a pretty great game from Brown. He shot great (9-18 fg, 3-5 3pt), defended better (3 steals), and he saw the floor very well. This is how Brown should be playing the rest of the way. He didn’t try to do too much and he had a great performance. 

Joe Mazzulla: The most shocking timeout of the season came with a little more than 30 seconds to go in the third quarter. The Celtics had gotten sloppy and they gave up an easy dunk as the lead dropped to 18. He’s never called a timeout in that spot, opting to instead generally let the end of quarter play out. Boston scored out of the timeout.

Better late than never, right?

ONE DOWN

Malcolm Brogdon: He was 0-2 after 8 minutes and he sat the whole second half. 

“He gave us the best he could, and we kind of went from there,” Mazulla said after the game. We’ll see how Game 6 looks, but if he can’t hit shots, then he can’t play. If the forearm tendon issue makes him this bad, then he should sit. 

TOP PLAYS

TWO TAKES KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- The pressure is now squarely on Miami

Game 7 is in Boston, and no team wants to play a Game 7 on the road. So Miami is going to treat Game 6 like it’s a Game 7 and do everything they can to win at home.

“We are always going to stay positive, knowing that we can and we will win this series,” Jimmy Butler said. “We'll just have to close it out at home.”

Of course, Butler coolly said the Heat were going to listen to music, have some beers and wine, and win one on the road, and that didn’t work out. He doesn’t like being wrong about things like this, so I would expect Game 6 to be epic. 

“It's going to take everything. It's going to be a dogfight,” Brown said. “I imagine those guys will play better than they played tonight, and they're going to come out aggressive. We've got to be ready to take their punch at home. We've got to be ready to be resilient and come out and do what we're supposed to do.”

The Celtics just have to survive Game 6. That's going to be the toughest game of this series. If they can snag that one and force Game 7 here on Monday night, they’ll win this series. Miami won’t have much left for that. 

But surviving Game 6 is going to be extraordinarily tough. That might be the hardest game left in the playoffs for them. It might be the hardest game they’ve played since the Finals. Butler will be his absolute best. The building will be a madhouse. 

Survive that, and they’ll make history. Miami knows that. The pressure is on them to prevent that from happening. 

- The Gabe Vincent injury really hurt Miami

Kyle Lowry was awful for the Heat. Vincent has been a catalyst on both ends for Miami in this series and losing that clearly hurt them. It’s incredible to me that he’s this impactful in the ECF, but he just is. 

Lowry turned it over 4 times and was only 1-2 from deep. Vincent has much more control of the game while being a top-notch defender and higher-volume shooter. Boston took advantage of Lowry and the increased offensive load for Bam Adebayo by forcing 10 combined turnovers by both. 

If Vincent is out or limited again on Saturday night, they’ll have a real dilemma on their hands. 

Next up: Game 6 is Saturday night at 8:30 on TNT.