1. This one looked like the early stages of the Eastern Conference Finals, at least at first.
Miami looked like the more composed team through the first few shifts, with Bam Adebayo (27 points on 24 shots) attacking the game against Kristaps Porzingis, Adebayo ending the game against Jaylen Brown on the other end and Tyler Herro (28 points on 19 shots) making every shot he ever could in the playoffs. At one point, Miami led 16-13, but Boston was a half-second away from forcing a shot clock violation. Instead, Herro brought the ball up to the rim from 30 feet, and 30 seconds later, after a pair of threes from Herro, Miami led by 11.
That lead held for a while, though it dwindled, with Duncan Robinson and Dru Smith — one in transition — each losing in pairs of threes, but as the Celtics calmed their turnover nerves with boards and offensive drives , they finally gained the upper hand. lead on a backcourt steal from Brown. At halftime, despite Adebayo and Herro’s combined 29 points, it was Boston by five that had a 25-3 advantage on restricted zone attempts – more than Boston had taken in a game playoff against Miami the last two seasons, although it should be noted that Haywood Highsmith, Caleb Martin and Josh Richardson were all there for the HEAT on the defensive end.
All Herro and Adebayo from there as Miami tied it midway through the third, only for Kyle Lowry to immediately take the lead with a messy transition three. With Miami 12 of 22 from three over the break at this point, you could excuse Boston fans for having flashbacks to the last seven-game series.
Boston up by six early in the fourth after a quick run from Derrick White (28 points on 15 shots), but of course there was Smith with his third three of the night to keep things within one possession. Another clutch game, because of course, even though Boston pushed the lead to eight right after the clutch qualifiers were fulfilled, with each team trading incredible defensive plays (Adebayo, predictably , was heavily involved). Miami’s shooting – 15 of 30 from above the break late in the game – kept them in contention as the Celtics threatened to punctuate the night, but their final three missed as Boston held on, 119-111 . The story of the past few seasons has often been one of Boston’s struggles to score in the final period against Miami, but with the roster changes, things seemed a little looser as they won the fourth, 32-23 , although the HEAT limited them to just five restricted matches. zone attempts in the second half.
2. For Adebayo, it was a continuation of all the offensive development from last season that he continued and built upon in the playoffs. For Herro, it was an opportunity to show what he could have offered had he not broken his hand in the first round last year. Both were delivered, and more.
While Adebayo has hardly been reluctant to attack Al Horford in recent seasons, Robert Williams III’s length has given almost every player on the HEAT a little pause when it comes to attacking the rim. Now Williams is gone, having been traded to Portland for Jrue Holiday following the Damian Lillard deal, and in his place is Porzingis. Porzingis is a domestic deterrent in his own right, but you wouldn’t know it from the way Adebayo went after him. Granted, Porzingis got caught in a big moment just trying to assist on an Adebayo throw and got a few saves on his own, but Adebayo established early on that he was going clinch and getting to his spots, either running out of choices – Miami had a lot of success with pocket passes against Porzingis last year – or direct post-ups. The aggression also continued as Adebayo still took Porzingis off the dribble in the fourth for an and-one.
Porzingis also took into account Herro’s night, in a different way. When Horford was starting, Boston would often change from 1 to 5. Even with Williams in the lineup, they would pre-shut him down so they could then change screens little by little. But with Porzingis now, the Celtics put him in more comfortable drop coverage while they otherwise shift 1-4, meaning Herro has space to shoot whenever he can cleanly get out of a screen. And sure enough, as Miami fought to stay within striking distance, Herro made two threes from the top of the arc early in the third – while taking Holiday off the dribble to the rim at one point and placing Miami up four with a three in the last 90. seconds.
3. Miami’s point guard rotation has been a popular talking point in recent weeks, with Lowry turning 38 in March and Smith needing to prove himself, but tonight we saw great work from each of them as they combined for 21 points on 13 shooting, 6 of 8 from three, with eight assists to just two turnovers. No one expects fireworks from these two, but fireworks won’t often be necessary to contribute to victory.
If last season is any indication, Lowry is going to pick his spots to be aggressive. After taking just one shot against Detroit on Wednesday, he took seven tonight as he was also more aggressive going downhill to draw the defense. Lowry may still be the team’s best passer, putting Adebayo, Herro and Butler in all their comfort spots, so even when he’s not shooting much, he’s still adding value – not to mention his defensive game – but aside from Herro he’s also the most likely threat to successfully complete the deep dribble and that might still be the most important skill set in the league. Miami was not successful last season without Lowry. Today, his skills are still suited to this time of year.
Smith also hasn’t been particularly aggressive from preseason until the first week of the season, so it was a bit of a revelation when he stopped on a fast break to make a three. You don’t have to watch Smith long, with three interceptions tonight, to see what Erik Spoelstra would like from his defense — good hands always fit into Miami’s assertive scheme — but if he wants to be a consistent, aggressive shooter, with low turnovers throughout, so he might have a lot more value than people seem to think. He’s a different player than Gabe Vincent, or at least he started out as a different player while Miami molds him into a similar role, but the same pattern is ultimately there in terms of impact.
