at 
Boston Celtics (1-1)  at  Miami Heat (1-1)
Saturday, April 27, 2024
6:00 PM ET
TV:  TNT, NBCSB, BSSun
Round 1  Game 3
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub, WQAM 560, Sirius XM
Kaseya Center



Probable Celtics Starters
PG SG SFPF C
PG:  Jrue Holiday
SG:  Derrick White
SF:  Jaylen Brown
PF:  Jayson Tatum
C:   Kristaps Porzingis

Celtics Reserves
Oshae Brissett
Sam Hauser
Al Horford
Svi Mykhailiuk
Payton Pritchard
Jordan Walsh
Jaden Springer
Xavier Tillman
Neemias Queta

2 Way Players
JD Davison
Drew Peterson

Injuries/Out
Luke Kornet (calf) probable

Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla


Probable Heat Starters
PGSGSFPFC
PG:  Tyler Herro
SG:  Caleb Martin
SF:   Jaime Jaquez, Jr
PF:   Nikola Jovic
C:    Bam Adebayo 

Heat Reserves
Thomas Bryant
Haywood Highsmith
Kevin Love
Patty Mills
Duncan Robinson
Orlando Robinson

Out/Injuries
Jimmy Butler (MCL) out
Josh Richardson (shoulder) out
Terry Rozier III (neck) out
Delon Wright (personal) questionable

Two Way Players
Jamal Cain
Cole Swider
Alondes Williams

Head Coach
Erik Spoelstra

Game Notes
The series now shifts to Miami with the Celtics and Heat tied at 1 game each.  The Celtics won Game 1 114-94 behind a 44.9% shooting on 3's.  Miami shot 37 three pointers at 32.4%.  The Celtics shot 49 three pointers at 44.9%.  After that game, Erik Spoelstra vowed to change the 3 point discrepancy for Game 2, and he did just that.  The Heat won Game 2 111-101 behind some blistering 3 point shooting.

The Heat averaged just 12.5 threes on 37% shooting during the regular season.  They shot 50% from 3 just 5 times the entire season.  In Game 2, the Heat shot 43 three pointers and hit 54.4% of them.  While the Celtics, who led the league in 3 point attempts during the regular season at 42.5 per game, hitting 38.8% of their 3's, shot just 32 threes in Game 2 and hit only 37.5% of them. 

Most people are saying that this is an anomaly and that the Heat won't be able to shoot that way again, but history tells another story.  These two teams faced each other in last year's Eastern Conference Finals.    During last season, the Heat averaged 34.8 threes a game and shot 34.4% from beyond the arc.  In the playoffs, they averaged 38% on 3's.  But in the Eastern Conference Finals, Miami shot above 50% from beyond the arc in 3 games as they beat the Celtics in that series.  So, it's not guaranteed that they won't shoot like that again.

However, their hot shooting may be partially the result of the Celtics lack of perimeter defense.  According to NBA Tracking, 14 of Miami's 3 pointers were open and 23 shots were considered to be wide open.  Miami shot 65.2% on wide open shots, which is 27% higher than league average.  All but 6 of their shots were either open or wide open.  The Celtics never adjusted their defense to slow down the Heat's perimeter shooting. 

This is the 6th meeting between these two teams this season.   The Celtics have won 5 of them.   The Celtics won the 3 meetings during the regular season with one game at home and 2 in Miami.  They won the first playoff game but lost Game 2.  The Celtics were 27-14 on the road in the regular season.  The Heat were 22-19 at home in the regular season.  Both teams have had 2 days off since the last game. 

The Celtics expects Luke Kornet to return for this game and will have no other players on the injury report.  The Heat will still be without Jimmy Butler who is recovering from a grade 2 MCL sprain.  Former Celtics, Terry Rozier will miss his 9th straight game with a neck sprain.  Josh Richardson has been out since season ending surgery in early March.  Delon Wright has been added to the injury report as questionable for personal reasons. 

Key Matchups
vs
Jrue Holiday vs Tyler Herro
 In 3 games against the Celtics in the regular season, Herro averaged 23.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game while shooting 49.1% from the field and 41.2% from beyond the arc.  He struggled in Game 1 but, in Game 2, he led the Heat with 24 points, 5 rebounds, 14 assists and 1 steal while shooting 53.8% from the field and 54.4% from beyond the arc.  The Celtics need to tighten up their defense on Herro once again in this game.  Holiday struggled in the first 2 games, with 15 points on 30% shooting with just 5 assists and 3 turnovers over the 2 games.  The Celtics need more from him in this game.

vs
Kristaps Porzingis vs Bam Adebayo
Adebayo has played well in both games.   In Game 1, he finished with 24 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists.  He shot 55.6% from the field bu was 0-2 shooting threes. In Game 2, Adebayo finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 2 assists while shooting 62.9% from the field and 0-2 on threes.   Porzingis finished with 18 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 2 blocks and was 4-8 from beyond the arc in Game 1 but struggled in Game 2, going 1-9 and missing all 4 of his 3 point attempts.  The Celtics will need more from him in this game. 

Honorable Mention
Derrick White vs Caleb Martin
In last year's Eastern Conference Finals Game 7, Martin became a flame thrower and put the Celtics away, shooting 69% from the field and 67% from beyond the arc.  After shooting 35% from beyond the arc in the regular season, Martin finished Game 2 with 21 points, shooting 58.3% from the field and 83.3% from beyond the arc.  The Celtics definitely need to figure out how to slow down Martin, especially on the perimeter.

Keys to the Game
Defense - Defense remains the biggest key to winning every single game.  The Celtics allowed Miami to shoot 49.3% from the field and 53.5% from beyond the arc.  They were late on closeouts for most of the game.  The Heat were more aggressive and more physical on defense than the Celtics.  The Celtics must commit to playing lock down defense by every player for 48 minutes of this game.  They definitely need to play better defense than they did in Game 2. 

Rebound - Along with defense, rebounding is always a key to winning.  As Pat Riley once said "No rebounds, no rings."  In Game 1, the Celtics out-rebounded the Heat 44-34 and 10-5 on offensive rebounds. In Game 2, the Heat out-rebounded the Celtics 40-39.  The Celtics need to commit to working harder on the boards than the Heat.  It takes effort and hustle to get rebounds and the Celtics need to increase both in this game to win the rebounding battle.

Be Aggressive - The Celtics need to be the more aggressive team. They have to be more aggressive in going after loose balls, in grabbing rebounds, in defending, and in going to the basket.  The Heat are proud of having a team of "dogs" who hustle and scrap for everything and they showed that side of the team in Game 2.  The Celtics need to hustle and be aggressive for 48 minutes and "out-dog" the Heat.  They can win a lot of games by playing harder than their opponents and they can lose a lot of games by allowing their opponents to be the team that plays harder. 

Move the Ball - The Celtics are at their best when they keep the ball moving and when they hustle up the floor before the Heat can set up their defense.  In Game 2, the Celtics allowed the Heat to set up their defense time and again as they walked the ball up the court.  They hunted mismatches all game that gave Tatum and Brown good shots, but it also killed the offensive flow for the team.  Mismatches are nice, but not to the detriment of team basketball. 

Everyone Needs to Step Up - The Heat got 20 points off their bench in Game 2, even though they were depleted due to Rozier and Butler being out.  The Celtics got just 12 points off their bench.  Payton Pritchard went scoreless while Horford and Hauser scored just 6 points each.  The Celtics have got to get more production from their reserves.  Pritchard, Hauser and Horford are all capable of more and need to step up and do more in Game 3. 

X-Factors
On the Road - The Celtics are on the road and that may be good thing since the Celtics are just 13-14 at home over the last 4 years in the playoffs.   This season, the Heat were 22-19 at home while the Celtics were 27-14 on the road.  The Celtics have veteran players who usually play better on the road than rookies and 2nd year players.  However, they still have to overcome the distractions of travel, hotel living and playing in front of a hostile crowd. 

Coaching - Erik Spoelstra is thought by many to be the best coach in the league.  He has coached 2 championship teams,  has taken his teams to 6 finals, and his teams have won 6 Eastern Conference Championships. Spoelstra has 112 playoff wins while Mazzulla has 12.  Spoelstra made changes to his game plan and the Heat executed them while Mazzulla and the Celtics never adjusted to those changes.  Hopefully Mazzulla will have the Celtics ready for whatever wrinkles Mazzulla comes up with for this game. 

Officiating -Officiating is always an x-factor in every game. Every crew officiates differently. Some call it tight, others let them play. We saw in the Knicks/76eers game that the refs missed 2 big calls against the Knicks, allowing them to get the game winning shot.  The Lakers have also been blaming the officials for their losses.  The Celtics need to adjust to how the refs are calling the game and not allow bad calls or no calls to take away their focus from playing the game.  They also need to make sure that they play hard throughout the game so as not to allow the game to come down to a final shot for either team. They also have to concentrate on the game and not on complaining to the officials.