Final: Celtics 93, Heat 80 - Celtics pull away in second half, put themselves on cusp of NBA Finals

The Celtics are on the cusp of a trip to the NBA Finals.

After engaging in a defensive rock fight through the first 30+ minutes of action, the Celtics executed down the stretch — outscoring the Heat, 56-38, in the second half en route to a 93-80 victory in Game 5 at FTX Arena. 

With the win, the Celtics take a 3-2 lead in this best-of-seven series, with a potentially decisive Game 6 set for Friday night at TD Garden.

A dominant second half from Jaylen Brown (25 points) helped Boston pull away, but steady performances all night from Al Horford (16 points) and Derrick White (14 points) allowed the C’s to stay afloat when both clubs struggled to generate consistent offense through the first two quarters.

The fact that the Celtics managed to enter halftime trailing by just five points was quite the miracle — considering that Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown were just 3-for-16 from the field with six turnovers.  

But as Boston began to sink their shots in the third quarter, the Heat’s offensive woes prevailed — with Miami only going 4-for-23 from the field in the frame over a 12-minute stretch where the Celtics outscored the home team, 32-16. 

After an ugly opening half in which both teams seemed completely gassed (and awfully banged up), the Celtics deserve plenty of credit for elevating their game in crunch time and delivering a potential knockout blow to the Heat. 

———

ROUND 3, GAME 5 
(1) Miami Heat vs. (2) Boston Celtics
FTX Arena
8:30 PM - ESPN (Really 8:45) 

PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS

Boston: Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, Robert Williams

Miami: Kyle Lowry, Max Strus, Jimmy Butler, PJ Tucker, Bam Adebayo

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

- UPDATE: Smart and Williams are available to play

When asked how he expects Smart to look, Ime Udoka said "Good enough. He tested it, and it feels better as the day went on. Did a little bit in shootaround and just some pregame now. He has enough movement where he's not restricted in certain areas as he was a few days ago, and so it's going to be some swelling and some pain, but he's a guy that can play through some things, and we left it up to him as far as how confident he is with his feelings on the court, and he's good to go."

On Rob, Udoka said "he's good. No restrictions. Like I said, we're being a little conscious of it at times, and we do like certain matchups and lineups and rotations for him to play against and with, so that plays into it some, but any chance we can get to shave down his minutes, we will. Big blowout games obviously help in that regard."

- UPDATE: Tyler Herro, is out.

"I kind of had an idea when we were leaving that he does need some rest and recovery," Erik Spoelstra said of Herro and his strained groin. "These can be tricky. I know how badly he wants to be out there, and that's why we'll listen to him, but these decisions have to be made by the training staff and our doctors. We just have to be responsible to our guys as human beings. This is admirable what both sides are doing right now, but you don't want to be irresponsible, as well."

- Boston is favored by 2.5

GOING A LITTLE DEEPER

- Protect the damn ball and start strong

This is the mantra for this series. 

“It starts with our intensity,” Payton Pritchard said after this morning’s shoot around. “We can’t - every time we come off a loss, we play like our backs are against the wall. We got to take that mentality into every game, and obviously just take care of the ball. The games we lost, we had 39 turnovers. The games we win, we had 18 turnovers, so that’s a big difference.”

Miami loves to run. They thrive off turnovers. Being loose with the ball against the Heat is like tossing a clam cake onto the pavement at the beach: You’re gonna get swarmed by large annoying beasts that are going to fly away with that thing before you can blink. 

“They’re a big time help team, and our thing is to take care of the ball and not play in a crowd,” Udoka said. “ The thing that stood out to me and the staff when looking at the numbers specifically is 39 turnovers in the two losses and 18 in the two wins. Those things stand out - not playing in a crowd, making the easy pass and seeing all our outlets. If we do it well we win, if not we’re in trouble.”

This is what I’ve been saying for three games now. The analysis can stop here.

Give Miami a chance to run off steals and they’ll go up 3-2. That's the end of the story. Protect the ball, make the quick passes without over-dribbling, avoid getting caught in a crowd, and work to get good shots, and it’s Boston that leaves with the lead. 

Miami is a terrible half court team, and if the Celtics have Robert Williams and Al Horford there, the Heat are cooked. They aren’t good enough or healthy enough to score in the half court against that duo. 

Come out strong, build a lead, and trust that defense. Miami’s offense isn’t good enough to come back from big deficits unless the Celtics are very complicit in that cause. 

“Digging yourself a 20 point hole this time of the season is tough, cause you're playing against a really, really good team,” Tatum said. “I think that's something we gotta just be aware of tonight starting the game.”

THREE THINGS TO WATCH FOR

1. Single-covering the Heat: I think Miami is hobbled enough where the Celtics can feel good about sending less and less help on drives. Whether it’s Jimmy Butler, Victor Oladipo, Tyler Herro or someone else, Boston will take its chances on those guys having monster individual games over the alternative, which is over-helping and giving up wide open shots that can get struggling shooters going. 

Stay home and see if the Heat have any legs left. 

2. The Jayson Tatum superstar game: It came in Game 6 of the Bucks series, and despite this being Game 5 in a series where Tatum’s performances have closely mirrored the last, I’m going to bump this up a game. 

The Celtics need to approach this game as a must-win. They can’t think “oh we beat Milwaukee twice down 3-2, we can beat Miami twice, too,” no matter how true that statement might be. This is the biggest game of Boston’s season, and it gives them a chance to close this out at home on Friday night. 

Tatum is fresh off being named first-team All-NBA. He has historically followed up big personal honors like this with big individual performances. I’ll bet he continues the trend. 

3. Miami desperation: They're not going out without a fight, and if things are getting bad in this game for the Heat, watch for them to start throwing all the junk they have at Boston. Full court presses, crazy zones, weird lineups … everything in their arsenal … to throw Boston off. The Celtics need to be on their toes for all the little tricks up Spoelstra’s sleeve. 

A LITTLE MORE

Tom Westerholm and I discuss Game 5, protecting the ball, and the genius defense of Robert Williams in the latest Locked On Celtics podcast.

GAME THREAD

Stick around for more comments below as the game goes on. Feel free to add your two cents in the comments.