Celtics (0-2) at Heat (2-0) ECF Game #3 9/19/20

[hodgy03038]

I don't know if anyone else on here mentoned this but I have to share it. On the Celtics postgae when they were asking Jaylen Brown questions it showed his stats 26 pts, rebounds, blocks assists & steals.

And just below those stats in yellow it said:
And Jaylen also stole Jae Crowder's lunch money!!! Hilarious!!

[Mahk E Mahk]

good to get the win but that 4th quarter erased the good feelings from the first 3 quarters --> very little confidence that the C's have figured out how to close out a team in these playoffs.

hope they build on what they did right tonight to pull off another win on Wednesday

respectfully, i don’t see it that way. we’re playing in the ecf against a very good team that is well coached and wants to win as much as we do. after not closing out games 1 & 2, the c’s absolutely closed out game three and won by eleven. the heat made a run and the refs helped them a bit (e.g. the jaylen flagrant) but our young c’s battled back and closed it out. we all want wire-to-wire twenty point wins but that isn’t realistic in the latter round of the playoffs. enjoy the win!

[Sophomore]

Did folks notice - there was a stretch in the 3d q
when the Heat got chippy - started showing and talking at dead balls, bricking shots? First time I think I’ve seen them frustrated like that. Lost their composure. Keep after them, boys. They’re only human and they have their breaking point too.

[hodgy03038]

Another stat I heard tonight on ESPN was 144 minutes in the 3 games the Celtics have led for 101 of those minutes and were down 0-2. That's crazy. I have to say that Miami is getting all the calls and we are getting no calls. I don't know how many times the Celts were fouled inside and no whistle. The Goran Dragic flagrant that Gordon was called for was absolute BS. Goran actually stuck his face out to initiate contact and get the flagrant call as Gordon was moving around him. I mean Goran does absolutely everything to win (good for his fans) but can't they see through the BS? So you can intentionally stick your face in for a foul and because it's the face it's automatic??

[Mahk E Mahk]

I missed game. (My son got married today!!)

Great win. Can someone give me a quick recap?

Plus not to beat a dead horse, but noticed another DNPCD for Time Lord, and another big game by Bam. What gives?

And how did Gordon look?

Thx!!

Omg congrats to you and your son (and daughter-in law)! How exciting 

Yeah I'm not sure why Timelord isn't playing. Maybe he's dealing with something we don't know about? Grant gave us some good minutes, including moments where he actually outplayed Bam but sadly it didn't last too long (Bam is just that good).

Hayward looked fantastic. Didn't light up the scoreboard but his playmaking was great and he was also great on defense too. Just having him out there made things even tougher for Miami and easier for us. Also meant no Ojeyele which is another win LOL

i thought grant was fantastic and gave us exactly what you want from the bench, including a clutch three and some excellent defense. he’s so savvy and doesn’t look like a rookie out there, in the ecf! he’s quickly becoming the gem of the last draft.

[hodgy03038]

Grant was fantastic. I am so impressed that he doesn't bite on the upfakes and create fouls that RWIII would definitely bite on and he has been very dependable on the open 3s unlike during the season. Very impressive for the rook.

We need Gordon so bad and he better not even consider going back for birth of another baby. I mean seriously you know you are having 3 or 4 more and that's what facetime is for.

[SparzWizard]

Celtics still undefeated on the road.

But the C's need to keep continue with the intensity. Gotta fix the sloppy plays and cut the ISOs

[slamtheking]

good to get the win but that 4th quarter erased the good feelings from the first 3 quarters --> very little confidence that the C's have figured out how to close out a team in these playoffs.

hope they build on what they did right tonight to pull off another win on Wednesday

respectfully, i don’t see it that way. we’re playing in the ecf against a very good team that is well coached and wants to win as much as we do. after not closing out games 1 & 2, the c’s absolutely closed out game three and won by eleven. the heat made a run and the refs helped them a bit (e.g. the jaylen flagrant) but our young c’s battled back and closed it out. we all want wire-to-wire twenty point wins but that isn’t realistic in the latter round of the playoffs. enjoy the win!

my take was that they got away from the style of play that got them the lead which allowed Miami to get back in the game.  Miami has the type of shooters that get ridiculously hot and can close a gap very quickly. 

game was a lot closer than it should have been coming down the stretch.

[Ogaju]

I missed game. (My son got married today!!)

Great win. Can someone give me a quick recap?

Plus not to beat a dead horse, but noticed another DNPCD for Time Lord, and another big game by Bam. What gives?

And how did Gordon look?

Thx!!

Congrats to you and your son!!


Gordon looked really great , especially considering his time off. He made a big impact on both ends of the floor. His passing and ball handling was huge. His shooting a defense was very good too. He was winded though, and said afterwards that his ankle is still sore.

Agree his playmaking and presence made a big difference. He is clearly not 100%, but this isn't like the catastrophic-injured Gordon we saw at the end of the Kyrie era. He clearly needs time but isn't fundamentally broken. Pretty encouraging.

Would love to see Time Lord battle Bam.

Congrats, footey!!!

Yeah Congratulations to footey and footey jr.  TP! for checking in on the Celtics.

[Phantom255x]

So it looks like Hayward is staying with us for good, and not leaving the bubble if Robyn gives birth. Rachel Nichols reported this earlier and Hayward basically announced it postgame.

I wouldn't have minded if Hayward left the bubble, but it seems he wants to help the team going forward. I respect that 

[hodgy03038]

So it looks like Hayward is staying with us for good, and not leaving the bubble if Robyn gives birth. Rachel Nichols reported this earlier and Hayward basically announced it postgame.

I wouldn't have minded if Hayward left the bubble, but it seems he wants to help the team going forward. I respect that 

I hope he wants to stay in the bubble and help the team. I mean he missed like a season then he missed 4 critical weeks for the birth of another child? Facetime and earn the 30 million.

[gouki88]

Grant was fantastic. I am so impressed that he doesn't bite on the upfakes and create fouls that RWIII would definitely bite on and he has been very dependable on the open 3s unlike during the season. Very impressive for the rook.

We need Gordon so bad and he better not even consider going back for birth of another baby. I mean seriously you know you are having 3 or 4 more and that's what facetime is for.

Grant is a star. Plays like a veteran with how the moment never gets to him. Love it

[wiley]

It has actually become a strategy to defend with your face.  You just get up in an offensive player's shorts with him and hit the floor when he touches you.  Automatic flagrant.

Yes, Miami has been doing this.  I think the Hayward flagrant probably had to be called, but close.

The first time I noticed was last game when Dragic ran up to a driving Tatum (I think it was Tatum) and Tatum's shoulder made contact with Dragic's face and Dragic fell down and held is face and they reviewed the play.  Luckily it was ruled a foul on Dragic, and rightly so.  But Goran went looking for that one and that should be fined if it keeps up....the Heat are a good tough team, and it seems they are tough enough to purposely take it in the face.  These kinds of plays are as egregious as flopping, even if it takes some guts to take it in the chops.  Robinson stuck his face as close as he could to Jaylen.  He literally pushed his chin forward into Jaylen's space.

[RPGenerate]

It has actually become a strategy to defend with your face.  You just get up in an offensive player's shorts with him and hit the floor when he touches you.  Automatic flagrant.

Yes, Miami has been doing this.  I think the Hayward flagrant probably had to be called, but close.

The first time I noticed was last game when Dragic ran up to a driving Tatum (I think it was Tatum) and Tatum's shoulder made contact with Dragic's face and Dragic fell down and held is face and they reviewed the play.  Luckily it was ruled a foul on Dragic, and rightly so.  But Goran went looking for that one and that should be fined if it keeps up....the Heat are a good tough team, and it seems they are tough enough to purposely take it in the face.  These kinds of plays are as egregious as flopping, even if it takes some guts to take it in the chops.  Robinson stuck his face as close as he could to Jaylen.  He literally pushed his chin forward into Jaylen's space.

Very frustrating. I know players can't actually do this in fear of getting a flagrant 2, but I wish one of our player's mindset would be "you wanna play like a clown and draw fouls like that? I'll make sure you really feel whatever contact you're trying to draw."

[Celtics Mike]

The big difference today is that the Celtics relentlessly attacked the basket for 40 minutes, driven by Jaylen Brown
The last 6 minutes got close because they panicked a little and started bricking 3s
Celtics destroyed Heat in the paint that should be the template going forward. Drive for the Basket keep the momentum with multiple 2s instead of chucking away possession on hopeful 3s.