ECF Rd 3 Gm 4: C's vs. Heat (Mon 5/21 on ABC 8:30 PM)

by Mark Nilon

After a tremendous showing in Game 2 where they tied up the series in South Beach and neutralized Miami’s homecourt advantage, the Boston Celtics had a chance take a commanding 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals back on their home floor Saturday night which, prior to tip-off, seemed to be the odds makers’ prediction.

Unfortunately, the C’s came out alarmingly sluggish, digging themselves into a 24-7 deficit within the first seven minutes of action which, despite a late-game comeback attempt, proved to simply be a bit too steep of a hole to climb themselves out of.

Jimmy Butler stated the Heat were embarrassed in Thursday’s exhibition and vowed to “figure it out” in regard to finding a way in which they could bounce back quickly. Unfortunately for Boston, they managed to do exactly that, as Miami ended up winning the contest by a final score of 109-103.

Perhaps the most impressive part of their redemption showing was that they pulled out the victory without their star player in Butler down the stretch, as he was ruled out for the second half of the contest due to a reported knee injury.

Due to this unfortunate situation, Erik Spoelstra called upon the rest of his team to step up and guide the ball club across the finish line, and, while things weren’t all that smooth during the final 24 minutes of regulation–the Boston Celtics stormed back to cut the lead to just one with under three minutes left in the fourth period–ultimately, they did just enough to come out on top.

Now, as we approach Game 4, there’s a rather realistic chance that the Heat will either be without or will have a hobbled Butler in the rotation, which means that, in order for them to have a chance of pulling out the win on Monday, they’ll once again need some of their supporting players to step up and carry more weight than they may generally be used to.

While there are certainly some obvious choices such as Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro when it comes to players who could shoulder the load moving forward should their leader be less than 100 percent, we at HH actually believe that there are 2 underrated contributors found within the rotation that, if not accounted for, could inflict just as much damage as these aforementioned talents:

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Player Boston Celtics must account for No. 1) P.J. Tucker

A savvy veteran with over 13 years of NBA experience, P.J. Tucker has made a name for himself as being a stable presence, both in the locker room and when on the floor.

Though not a star by any stretch of the word, the 37-year-old is an individual who has and will continue to put his body on the line in any way possible in an effort to help his team win. We saw this last season when he was serving as a heavily utilized role player for the eventual NBA Champion Milwaukee Bucks, and we’ve seen this all throughout the 2021-22 campaign, especially during this year’s postseason.

This has been displayed both through the eye test as well as via the advanced stats, for, in 10 of 14 playoff contests participated in this year with Miami, Tucker has logged a positive plus-minus rating, many of which were when he’s posted five or fewer points.

Unlike the vast majority of difference-makers in the league who go out and stuff the stat sheet, Tucker’s impact has always been made by means of his energy, hustle, and, simply, by making smart plays on both ends of the floor.

During his tenure in the association, the forward has established himself as someone who will always tend to make the right play for his team throughout a contest, be it by means of converting on clutch buckets down the stretch (something he did to the demise of the Boston Celtics in Game 3) or keeping with his assignments to a tee when on defense (something he also did pristinely in Saturday’s exhibition).

Last contest, we saw the veteran even outshining C’s superstar Jayson Tatum, as he managed to outscore (17 to 10), outrebound (seven to six), and outshoot (50 percent shooting from the field in comparison to 21 percent shooting) him in just shy of 38 minutes played.

In Game 4, should he be as efficient as he was in their last bout, it will almost certainly be a long night for Boston.

(Photo by Winslow Townson/Getty Images)

Player Boston Celtics must account for No. 2) Kyle Lowry

Some people are seriously forgetting that, when healthy, Kyle Lowry is still a highly impactful point guard who, during his time in the league, has led his respective teams on numerous deep playoff runs.

We at HH are certainly not one of those people.

A high-impact contributor with a nose for winning basketball, Lowry is certainly not someone a team down 1-2 in a best-of-seven series should roll back their attention on, no matter what stage of his career he’s in.

Boasting a resume that consists of six All-Star nods, an All-NBA selection, an NBA Championship, and averages of 14.8 points, 6.3 assists, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.3 steals on 37 percent shooting from deep, the 36-year-old has had quite an eventful career and we’ve already seen him tap back into his prime-days on several occasions throughout this year’s campaign when unattended to or, simply, when dared to take over.

While he may not have had a great first game of the Eastern Conference Finals on Saturday night from an offensive perspective (11 points and six assists on just 36 percent shooting from the floor), defensively the vet was a true pest, swiping four steals and playing some sound coverage throughout.

Now, with him one game removed from a four-game absence after nursing a hamstring injury, he very well may have gotten the rest and rust removal needed to get back to being the player who, over the last two months of action, was boasting some truly impressive overall numbers of 13.3 points, 6.4 assists, 4.5 boards, and 1.1 steals per game on 48.7 percent shooting from the floor and 46.6 percent shooting from deep.

If he can play up to these standards, things could wind up getting out of hand rather fast.

Williams was sidelined for Game 3 due to knee soreness, marking his seventh absence of the playoffs. However, despite officially being listed as questionable, it appears like the talented big man will warm up with the intent on playing in Game 4.

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The Celtics will get at least one member of their usual starting five back in Game 4 as Robert Williams is expected to return for Game 4 according to a report from Shams Charania of Stadium.

Williams had missed Game 3 of the series in Boston on Saturday night due to lingering knee soreness from a bone bruise he suffered in the team’s second round series against the Bucks. However, Ime Udoka hinted at the team’s practice on Sunday that Williams had showed some improvement.

“He’s truly day-to-day,” Udoka said. “We’ll see how he responds to extra time off, but it’s due to swelling and soreness, and it’s likely to be like that the rest of the Playoffs.”

Spoelstra: "Not a basketball play"

Big deal ... what's he suppose to do, let Butler go undefended all the way to the hoop? He grabbed him to create a foul and stop the play like any other baller would do in his situation. Not a basketball play my ass!

After a Game 2 destruction of the Miami Heat on the road, the Boston Celtics returned home for Game 3 Saturday night. Unfortunately, the game went the complete opposite way that Celtics fans were expecting.

From the jump, Miami did not miss and Boston could not find the bottom of the net. Things spiraled out of control early with the C’s being down by as many as 26 points in the first half.

The Celtics’ sloppy play resulted in countless turnovers and easy transition buckets for the visiting squad. A late rally brought the shamrocks to within 15 points as the teams headed for the halftime break.

As the teams emerged from the tunnel to start the second half, it was announced that Jimmy Butler would be out the rest of the game with knee inflammation. Boston capitalized on Butler’s absence, bringing the game to within one point down the stretch but were never able to take the lead.

A couple of major injury scares to Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart proved to be false alarms, but even with four of their five starters, the C’s could not catch the Heat.

Miami snatched a playoff franchise record nineteen steals in the game. It’s very simple as to why Boston lost Game 3. You can’t win if you give the other team over twenty free possessions.

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for thirteen of the team’s 23 giveaways. Tatum also struggled mightily from the floor shooting just 3-of-14 and dropping only ten points.

Marcus Smart is a game-time decision for Game 4 with an ankle injury. JT joins him on the injury report as he is also a game-time decision with a neck ailment. To round off the injured starters, Robert Williams III is also a game-time decision as he continues to battle through a sore knee.

On the Heat side of things, the injuries have stacked up as well. Kyle Lowry, who returned in Game 3, is a game-time decision as he works his way through a nagging hamstring injury.

Tyler Herro is listed as out with a groin injury that held him out of the fourth quarter of Game 3. Gabe Vincent and Max Strus are both listed as game-time decisions with persistent minor injuries.

PJ Tucker is also a game-time decision as he battles a knee issue.

Finally, Jimmy Butler is questionable as he deals with knee inflammation.

Now that we have covered all of that never-ending list of injuries, let’s get to the keys to a Boston Celtics victory in Game 4:

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Boston Celtics key to victory No. 1) PROTECT THE BASKETBALL…PLEASE

The first key to victory has to be pretty obvious. Cut down the turnovers!

You simply cannot commit 23 turnovers in the Eastern Conference Finals. It’s inexcusable and will never lead to a win. The Boston Celtics somehow topped their terrible Game 1 performance by committing even more turnovers in Game 3.

As mentioned earlier, it starts with the two stars JT and JB. When your superstars who are supposed to carry your franchise lead the team in turnovers by a wide margin, it’s not a good thing.

Marcus Smart certainly deserves some blame to be pointed in his direction as he made countless turnovers, continuing to try to sneak bounce passes through Miami’s defense. The Celtics simply need to pass better, make smart decisions, and stop being so lazy with the ball.

Miami is champing at the bit to take a commanding 3-1 series lead and if Boston is going to be sloppy again, Miami can start to run away with the ECF.

One positive in this department is that the entire Celtic bench only committed one turnover in Game 3. The role players did their job for the most part.

Now, it is up to the stars to show up with the spotlight on them.

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Boston Celtics key to victory No. 2) Jayson Tatum

Throughout the entirety of the 2022 playoffs, Jayson Tatum has provided Boston Celtics fans with plenty to clamor about. The 2017 third overall pick has looked like a superstar for almost all of the season.

Unfortunately, there has been a couple of dud performances in the mix. The biggest dud was his showing in Game 3 on Saturday night. JT could not buy a bucket for much of the evening.

Even when he had a few opportunities to score on an undersized Max Strus, Tatum could not create space or knock down a jumper.

Even with a Jaylen Brown 40-point performance, the C’s fell short of a victory. They need the former Bluedevil to show up on Monday night if they hope to snag a victory and tie things up.

An encouraging stat during this postseason run of success is that the Celtics have yet to lose back-to-back games. Jayson Tatum has also yet to have consecutive poor performances.

Green teamers should be hopeful that their superstar forward can return to the level of success that he has had for the majority of the postseason. We have to hope that the neck injury that caused Tatum to be removed for part of Game 3 is not serious.

A major bounce-back performance could be on the horizon for JT, and the shamrocks certainly need one.

(Photo by Winslow Townson/Getty Images)

Boston Celtics key to victory No. 3) Stop the Heat from a big run

During the 2022 Eastern Conference Finals, the Boston Celtics have gone from looking like a championship team to a questionable team on a couple of occasions.

The C’s have looked like the better team for approximately ten of the twelve quarters in this series. The bad quarters have been horrendous, making it difficult for the shamrocks to claw their way back.

The first quarter in Boston on Saturday night was historically bad. The visitors outscored the green 39-18 in the opening twelve minutes. It is incredibly difficult to dig out of a 21-point hole after the first quarter, and especially when it’s in the playoff against a great defensive team like Miami.

Boston cannot afford to fall behind early or let the Heat get rolling. As seen in the two losses in this series, once Miami starts a run, they can’t be stopped.

It is typically because of the lowly ball handling by Boston that leads to transition offense for the boys from South Beach.

Ime Udoka must reign in his squad for Game 4, cut down the turnovers, and halt any runs. Game 4 is a must-win on Monday night, and it starts with the superstars for Boston.