BSJ ECF Game 7 Report: Heat 103, Celtics 84 - Poor shooting, turnovers, doom Celtics & end season

Everything you need to know about the Celtics Game 7 loss to the Miami Heat, with BSJ insight and analysis.

IN A NUTSHELL 

The Celtics came out strong defensively, but they struggled with their offense. After taking an early lead, they missed just about every shot they took, including all 10 3-pointers, to go down 7 after 1. Boston’s 3-less streak got to 12 before Horford finally hit one, but Boston still couldn't stop the Heat, who were 6-9 from 3. Amazingly, it was only an 11-point halftime deficit. The Celtics made a run in the third to get the lead down to 8, but they never could quite hit the shots they needed to get it any closer. Miami opened the fourth on a 16-5 run, and Boston just could never muster the offense they needed to win. 

Box Score

HEADLINES

Home court disadvantage: It’s absolutely mind-blowing that the Celtics lost three of the four home games in this series. It’s the most inexplicable part of this Celtics playoff run, and especially this series. How on earth does a team lose three games at home, including a Game 7? 

“This is difficult because this building for so many years has been so special,” Al Horford said. “It's very disappointing losing these games here. We talked about it as a group, about ways to come out and having that edge at home and being great and getting the crowd to rally behind us.

“I feel like, for whatever reason, we always felt coming back here it was kind of our safe haven, that we were going to be fine. I'm not going to say that's ... but I definitely think that for whatever reason we just kind of let loose a little bit at times here at home, just thinking that we'll be fine and we'll kind of find our way. That's something that we'll have to look at and make sure that we shift that mindset of protecting home, kind of being more aggressive, being more -- because on the road I feel like there's that edge that we have. We have to be consistent in that. That's something that we have to be better at.”

Died by the 3: The fourth quarter blew the game open, but Boston had ample opportunity to not only hang with Miami, but take and build on the lead. But time and time again, the Celtics missed open looks. They finished shooting 21% before the garbage time lineup came in. A normal shooting night, especially in the first quarter, would have changed this entire game. 

Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers: Boston turned it over 15 times for 19 points. They also collected 19 points off turnovers, but the killer was Jaylen Brown’s 8 turnovers

“We failed. I failed. We let the whole city down,” Brown said, later adding that he had “just a terrible game. When my team needed me most, like JT hurt his ankle, first play of the game, and you could see it like swelling up on him. He couldn't move out there. It was tough for him. My team turned to me to make plays and I came up short, I failed. It's tough. I give credit to Miami, but just a terrible job.”

TURNING POINT

We can say it came on the first play of the game when Tatum turned his ankle. That clearly bothered him the whole game, sapping his ability to push off and get to the rim. 

But he gutted through it and Boston had many, many chances to capitalize on opportunities that they couldn't. The real turning point came to start the fourth quarter when Boston was squarely in “win the first five minutes” territory to make this a fight. Instead, they got rolled by a 16-5 run and they never recovered. 

SECOND GUESS

Malcolm Brogdon said after the game that he did, indeed, have a partial tear in a forearm tendon that may require surgery. Somehow, he was cleared to play in this game and he got 7:05 of playing time where he was a -15. His first shot looked like a curveball that missed the rim by a foot.

A) He shouldn’t have been cleared. B) He should have been pulled early when it was clear he didn’t have it. Those seven minutes were a disaster for Boston and while the game got back down to 8 in the third, the confidence Miami built came back to haunt Boston.

NONE UP

I can’t bring myself to put anyone in this category when they lost a Game 7 at home like this. They weren’t horrible overall in the first three quarters. Derrick White had some great stretches to keep them close. But losing like this … no one stands out. 

FOUR DOWN

Jaylen Brown: Woof, what a horrible game from Brown. He not only had the 8 turnovers, but he shot 8-23 overall and was 1-9 from deep. He played 43 minutes, but one could argue that he was so bad in this game that a desperation bench move was worth the shot. 

Jayson Tatum: He just couldn't get anything going because of the ankle.

“It's tough because it kind of impacted me the rest of the night,” he said. “It swelled up and it was just frustrating that I was kind of like a shell of myself. It was tough to move. Just frustrating. Especially it happening on the first play.”

Malcom Brogdon: Nothing more to be said here. He shouldn’t have played. 

Grant Williams: He was a team-worst -19 in just 16 minutes of play. 

TOP PLAYS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- It’s going to be a long summer.

There is plenty of soul searching to be done here, especially because of the missed opportunity with this group’s depth. As the ramifications of the new CBA become more clear, I think there will be some long-term regret that this team, with this kind of depth, couldn't get the job done.

Some hard decisions are going to have to be made. We’ll talk to Brad Stevens later this week about that, but the more I read about the new deal, the more it’s clear Boston either won’t be able to bring the same team back because it robs them of any flexibility whatsoever, or they’ll have to bring this EXACT team back and basically add no one else aside from maybe a draft pick.

I still have a lot to learn about the new CBA, and hopefully I’ll get all of that sorted soon. What I do know is Boston will be extremely limited in how it can add help. A lot of the improvement on this roster is going to have to happen individually over the summer.

The Celtics had better hope they get better at learning and applying lessons quickly.