Game 1 Final: Heat 123, Celtics 116 - Disaster third quarter leads to another home playoff loss

Celtics vs. Heat

Game 1, 8:30 p.m., TNT

TD Garden

Line: Boston -8.5

Refs: Marc Davis (#8), Ed Malloy (#14), Rodney Mott (#71)

Injuries: 

Boston- Gallinari (out). Miami- Tyler Herro (hand, out), Victor Oladipo (knee, out)

Projected Starters

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

Miami: Gabe Vincent, Max Strus, Jimmy Butler, Kevin Love, Bam Adebayo

What I’m looking for

Focus: Anecdotally, a lot of people in this building outside of the team are nervous about this game. The prevailing thought is that Boston is way too talented to lose but too unfocused or undisciplined to win easily. So let's see if they hear that chatter and come out strong. This is an opportunity to jump all over Miami right away and set a tone. 

Early transition: Robert Williams is in the lineup to force misses. Boston needs to run off those misses and pile up the points early. The best way to keep Miami from pulling out creative defenses is to get out and run and prevent them from setting up. Accumulate the easy points, put pressure on Miami’s offense, and extend leads. 

Jimmy Butler's level of dominance: We all know he’s a different breed, so Boston needs to keep him as uncomfortable as possible without overdoing it and letting the supporting cast get hot. If the shooters get hot, this will be a tough game. 

How I think it will go:

My guess here is that Boston can come out early and build a big lead. It’ll be one of those big first half leads where people make a lot of jokes on social media and then it’ll be a single-digit game in the fourth quarter.

I’m just going to believe these guys play with their food until they don’t. What I’d like to see is two decisive home wins that highlight the talent disparity. What I expect is 30 minutes of effort and 18 minutes of “WTF are these guys even doing out there?”

I’ll take the Celtics in this game, but I’m not touching 8.5 points right now. They SHOULD win by 20. I’m not sold that they will. 

Follow along below or in the comments during the game, chime in, and let’s have fun.