Celtics win 'rock fight' with Heat by turning focus to defense in Game 3

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MIAMI — The game would materialize into a blowout later. The Boston Celtics would eventually create a consistent offensive rhythm. They would run away only after the buckets began to fall, but it was during the first quarter Saturday night, when they failed to score with their normal ease, that Jaylen Brown believed they established how the game would be played.

"I think just mindset," Brown said after his team took a 2-1 series lead by beating the Miami Heat, 104-84. "I think we put the emphasis on defense, trying to make them uncomfortable a little bit. They had a slow start, we had a good start on defense and I think that kind of opened up the game."

The Celtics found beauty in the muck of the first quarter. They didn't shoot the ball well, but they competed. They defended. They held Miami to just three points over the first six-plus minutes and 12 total points in the quarter. Even while scoring 21 points, the Celtics built an early lead. They knew they needed to do a better job disrupting the Heat after allowing them to run free during Game 2, especially from behind the arc.

After two days between games to soak in the disappointment of that loss, the Celtics were determined not to allow any room for Heat shot luck to emerge. Brown said they decided not to allow any more "dare shots" — long-distance attempts with no defender in sight. After allowing far too many open jump shots in the previous game, the Celtics chose to cut off the Heat's air space. They didn't make too many schematic adjustments, according to Brown and head coach Joe Mazzulla, but showed more urgency in everything they did.

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— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 28, 2024

From the first possession, the Celtics hit harder. Jrue Holiday stayed attached to Tyler Herro's hip while the Heat guard cut, then switched onto Jaime Jaquez Jr., with enough tenacity to deflect the rookie's pass. When Herro later came off a pick-and-roll on the same play, Holiday abandoned Jaquez to send a double team. That forced Herro to pass to Nikola Jović. As soon as the pass left Herro's hands, Holiday spun around to contest Jović's shot. He wasn't alone. Jaylen Brown nearly reached Jović in time to block his 3-point attempt.

The Celtics weren't going to let the Heat get comfortable again.

"I didn't think it was ugly," Joe Mazzulla said of the first quarter. "I thought it was physical, tough, I thought we got some good looks and made them, they got some good looks and didn't make them. I just thought it was rock fight of a game. Once the game settled in, we take what we needed to take and kind of go from there."

The Game 2 loss wiped away the perks of the Celtics' remarkably smooth regular season, which did not include a single three-game losing streak. The defeat took away their home-court advantage. It tossed them right back into the all-too-familiar feeling of turbulence in Miami. Yes, the Heat are down Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier, plus Gabe Vincent who left as a free agent last summer after taking down the Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals. But they are still the Heat, coached by Erik Spoelstra. For years now, they have grown stronger when faced with improbable challenges. All of that could have left the Celtics feeling unsettled. What if they fell victim to another Heat upset? What if they allowed this Miami team, without Butler, to take a series lead?

If the pressure impacted the Celtics, it only made them stronger. They held the Heat to 23.8 percent shooting during the first quarter. They forced nine first-half turnovers, including two in the backcourt. They only allowed Miami to shoot 28 3-point attempts for the game - 15 fewer than the Heat managed while pulling off a stunning Game 2 win. Bam Adebayo and Herro combined to score 35 points on 34 shot attempts and the Miami role players, the stars of Game 2, were all quiet.

"We didn't over help," Kristaps Porziņģis said. "We respected more those guys that shot the ball really well in Game 2. And just (had) better closeouts and making them work for each basket more. Not (letting them) shoot all these shots. And that makes a huge difference. They had to get in and then another action, another action, that we just kept getting stops. So, this is what we're going to do going forward. So, yeah, we had to respect them as a team 100 percent."

The Celtics didn't need to shoot well to run away from the Heat. They made just 11 of 27 3-point attempts (29.7 percent) but were able to squeeze Miami at the other end of the court. The first quarter showcased Boston's intentions.

"You would love to have a big lead to start every game, but it was just more about our attention to detail on both ends of the floor — mainly on the defensive end," Jayson Tatum said. "Can we start the game and not let them be comfortable? Regardless of if they hit shots or not, just try to make them work for everything that they get."

The Heat can turn a game ugly. They can crush another team's rhythm. They are tough enough and well-coached enough to make opponents feel bad about themselves. But the Celtics can thrive in the mud too. They picked up the Heat full-court. They turned up the pressure all over the court. They refused to let anyone, even Miami's lesser shooters, step into wide-open looks.

"Respecting those guys' capability," Brown said. "They are NBA players and they can make shots on any given night so treating them accordingly, closing out, just making them uncomfortable. Then on the other side, just executing the offense."

The Celtics knew the importance of rising to another level of physicality — and not just in Game 3. They proved themselves throughout the regular season, but the playoffs bring new challenges. They will need to win at times with their defense. They will need to overcome offensive droughts. They will need to turn up their ferocity to take an opponent out of what they want to do.

The first quarter Saturday night showed the Celtics were ready to regain control of the series. Tatum wants to see that type of tenacity consistently.

"Everybody knows how talented we are," Tatum said. "Can we be the tougher, harder playing team? When you combine that with our talent level, I think it's going to be hard to beat us. But can we start off every game essentially punching first and not reacting? That's the test for us that we have to get up for every single game."

(Photo of Boston's Al Horford and Miami's Bam Adebayo: Jim Rassol / USA Today)