Heat (2-3) at Celtics (3-2) ECF Game #6 5/27/22

[colincb]

Smart has to get better at understanding “the pace” of the game. Especially the last few minutes

Smart's been in the league for 7 years. He is what he is - an elite defender and below-average offensively as a starting PG. I'd move him back to SG and the Js to the two forward positions. You can manage Al and TL better that way too going forward.

White moves the ball better, doesn't try to be a hero, doesn't force passes, and is a very good defender too. You never know what you're getting from Smart as a PG and I think that's a big part of the C's problems when it comes to floor generalship. In his defense, he's hurt, but he's having trouble on both sides of the ball.

[PAOBoston]

I haven’t been this disappointed or down on the team in a long time. They are either masochists and truly enjoy pain and making their lives miserable or just totally weak minded choke artists. Jimmy Butler just Lebron Game 6ed them back to oblivion and I truly expect him to do the same on Sunday. We’ve seen this team come back before when their back has been against the wall but it feels different this time.

[celts55]

After sleeping on it, although not well, a few observations

I know many people, myself included, would have liked to see Brown and Tatum take more shots in the second half. They did if fact set up a number of open shots for teammates. Unfortunately only White could hit any. The rest of the guys couldn’t hit anything, and for some reason, Prichard couldn’t get in the game. Miami has 4-5 guys besides Butler who can shoot. Celtics, not so much.

Not sure what Ime was thinking. Maybe Rob’s Knee was bothering him, but he looked pretty good when he was in there. Grant and Al both were pretty useless last night, yet he sits the 4th? No Pritchard when they’re playing zone, bad challenge, etc. and why in the world did he keep Smart on Butler?

Give Miami some credit. They hit multiple big shots every time the Celtics made a run. Hit some ridiculous 3’s, played solid D, and Butler was unworldly.

I’ll end with the refs. I don’t usually blame them, but they were awful last night. While it was probably both ways, there seemed to be a lot of calls going against the Celtics.
The offensive foul on Tatum taking away an and 1
Both calls on White in the last minute were pretty weak
Grant obviously held going for rebound
A number of more, plus the continuing reviews killing the flow of the game

Lastly, Brown has got to hit pressure free throws. I never have faith when he goes to the line in the 4th

Probably more but I’m tired as I didn’t sleep well after that mess

[Birdman]

Team needs some scoring vets off the bench

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

After sleeping on it, although not well, a few observations

I know many people, myself included, would have liked to see Brown and Tatum take more shots in the second half. They did if fact set up a number of open shots for teammates. Unfortunately only White could hit any. The rest of the guys couldn’t hit anything, and for some reason, Prichard couldn’t get in the game. Miami has 4-5 guys besides Butler who can shoot. Celtics, not so much.

Not sure what Ime was thinking. Maybe Rob’s Knee was bothering him, but he looked pretty good when he was in there. Grant and Al both were pretty useless last night, yet he sits the 4th? No Pritchard when they’re playing zone, bad challenge, etc. and why in the world did he keep Smart on Butler?

Give Miami some credit. They hit multiple big shots every time the Celtics made a run. Hit some ridiculous 3’s, played solid D, and Butler was unworldly.

I’ll end with the refs. I don’t usually blame them, but they were awful last night. While it was probably both ways, there seemed to be a lot of calls going against the Celtics.
The offensive foul on Tatum taking away an and 1
Both calls on White in the last minute were pretty weak
Grant obviously held going for rebound
A number of more, plus the continuing reviews killing the flow of the game

Lastly, Brown has got to hit pressure free throws. I never have faith when he goes to the line in the 4th

Probably more but I’m tired as I didn’t sleep well after that mess

other than more JB and JT is 4th, it should be drive after drive with white who played very well and let PP send bombs away if he is wide open. he can shoot! smart was trash all game and killed us.  run offense through others.  PP would have at least gave us scoring unlike smart.

[kraidstar]

After sleeping on it, although not well, a few observations

I know many people, myself included, would have liked to see Brown and Tatum take more shots in the second half. They did if fact set up a number of open shots for teammates. Unfortunately only White could hit any. The rest of the guys couldn’t hit anything, and for some reason, Prichard couldn’t get in the game. Miami has 4-5 guys besides Butler who can shoot. Celtics, not so much.

Not sure what Ime was thinking. Maybe Rob’s Knee was bothering him, but he looked pretty good when he was in there. Grant and Al both were pretty useless last night, yet he sits the 4th? No Pritchard when they’re playing zone, bad challenge, etc. and why in the world did he keep Smart on Butler?

Give Miami some credit. They hit multiple big shots every time the Celtics made a run. Hit some ridiculous 3’s, played solid D, and Butler was unworldly.

I’ll end with the refs. I don’t usually blame them, but they were awful last night. While it was probably both ways, there seemed to be a lot of calls going against the Celtics.
The offensive foul on Tatum taking away an and 1
Both calls on White in the last minute were pretty weak
Grant obviously held going for rebound
A number of more, plus the continuing reviews killing the flow of the game

Lastly, Brown has got to hit pressure free throws. I never have faith when he goes to the line in the 4th

Probably more but I’m tired as I didn’t sleep well after that mess

other than more JB and JT is 4th, it should be drive after drive with white who played very well and let PP send bombs away if he is wide open. he can shoot! smart was trash all game and killed us.  run offense through others.  PP would have at least gave us scoring unlike smart.

Smart didn't look right and should not have played nearly so many minutes. It was pretty obvious to people at the bar and people on this site.

Mystified as to why Ime did not recognize this.

[Phantom255x]

I'd like to think maybe Miami won't hit all their deep 3s (they hit quite a few, including desperation ones late in the shotclock) or their contested shots. However, Butler has found his groove and if the C's don't adjust and play better defense he could still probably put up 30+. And I think now Herro will return so that'll only make life more difficult for the C's.

But ultimately, it comes down to the C's actually showing hustle and not making poor decisions.

C's yesterday had 17 turnovers leading to 20 Miami points. They literally started the game with 4 fairly quick turnovers as well which allowed MIA to go on an early run. That simply can't happen.

And lets be honest, watching the game what team looked the most engaged and like they wanted it more? Definitely Miami. Hate to say it because the refs were also atrocious but MIA came to play too. That's been the theme this series really. I don't really count Game 1 since the C's were legit missing Horford + Smart and just had a quick turnaround from the Bucks series. But every game since then the team that won is the team that actually looked the most engaged throughout.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

After sleeping on it, although not well, a few observations

I know many people, myself included, would have liked to see Brown and Tatum take more shots in the second half. They did if fact set up a number of open shots for teammates. Unfortunately only White could hit any. The rest of the guys couldn’t hit anything, and for some reason, Prichard couldn’t get in the game. Miami has 4-5 guys besides Butler who can shoot. Celtics, not so much.

Not sure what Ime was thinking. Maybe Rob’s Knee was bothering him, but he looked pretty good when he was in there. Grant and Al both were pretty useless last night, yet he sits the 4th? No Pritchard when they’re playing zone, bad challenge, etc. and why in the world did he keep Smart on Butler?

Give Miami some credit. They hit multiple big shots every time the Celtics made a run. Hit some ridiculous 3’s, played solid D, and Butler was unworldly.

I’ll end with the refs. I don’t usually blame them, but they were awful last night. While it was probably both ways, there seemed to be a lot of calls going against the Celtics.
The offensive foul on Tatum taking away an and 1
Both calls on White in the last minute were pretty weak
Grant obviously held going for rebound
A number of more, plus the continuing reviews killing the flow of the game

Lastly, Brown has got to hit pressure free throws. I never have faith when he goes to the line in the 4th

Probably more but I’m tired as I didn’t sleep well after that mess

other than more JB and JT is 4th, it should be drive after drive with white who played very well and let PP send bombs away if he is wide open. he can shoot! smart was trash all game and killed us.  run offense through others.  PP would have at least gave us scoring unlike smart.

Smart didn't look right and should not have played nearly so many minutes. It was pretty obvious to people at the bar and people on this site.

Mystified as to why Ime did not recognize this.

i agree! play PP. he can score. could have made difference. we will never know now,

IME is failing us when we need him the most

almost doc rivers type rotations. 

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

I'd like to think maybe Miami won't hit all their deep 3s (they hit quite a few, including desperation ones late in the shotclock) or their contested shots. However, Butler has found his groove and if the C's don't adjust and play better defense he could still probably put up 30+. And I think now Herro will return so that'll only make life more difficult for the C's.

But ultimately, it comes down to the C's actually showing hustle and not making poor decisions.

C's yesterday had 17 turnovers leading to 20 Miami points. They literally started the game with 4 fairly quick turnovers as well which allowed MIA to go on an early run. That simply can't happen.

And lets be honest, watching the game what team looked the most engaged and like they wanted it more? Definitely Miami. Hate to say it because the refs were also atrocious but MIA came to play too. That's been the theme this series really. I don't really count Game 1 since the C's were legit missing Horford + Smart and just had a quick turnaround from the Bucks series. But every game since then the team that won is the team that actually looked the most engaged throughout.

yeah well it DID happen and happens often with this club

oh well. you should not have to win more than 1 on road yet here we are having to win 3. you are tempting fate celtics. we absolutely suck at home. imagine having to win 3 at golden state? LOL  doubt we could win 2 there. GS is UNDEFEATED AT HOME. should not have needed 2 at milwaukee unless it was a sweep like the nets. 1 is all you should need on road if not a HCA team.

[Phantom255x]

I'd like to think maybe Miami won't hit all their deep 3s (they hit quite a few, including desperation ones late in the shotclock) or their contested shots. However, Butler has found his groove and if the C's don't adjust and play better defense he could still probably put up 30+. And I think now Herro will return so that'll only make life more difficult for the C's.

But ultimately, it comes down to the C's actually showing hustle and not making poor decisions.

C's yesterday had 17 turnovers leading to 20 Miami points. They literally started the game with 4 fairly quick turnovers as well which allowed MIA to go on an early run. That simply can't happen.

And lets be honest, watching the game what team looked the most engaged and like they wanted it more? Definitely Miami. Hate to say it because the refs were also atrocious but MIA came to play too. That's been the theme this series really. I don't really count Game 1 since the C's were legit missing Horford + Smart and just had a quick turnaround from the Bucks series. But every game since then the team that won is the team that actually looked the most engaged throughout.

yeah well it DID happen and happens often with this club

oh well. you should not have to win more than 1 on road yet here we are having to win 3. you are tempting fate celtics. we absolutely suck at home. imagine having to win 3 at golden state? LOL  doubt we could win 2 there. GS is UNDEFEATED AT HOME. should not have needed 2 at milwaukee unless it was a sweep like the nets. 1 is all you should need on road if not a HCA team.

For some reason this team just can't defend homecourt. Even in the Nets series it's not like they cruised to victories. Game 1 was the game-winner, then Game 2 they fought back but were down like 17 fairly early and came out flat

[wiley]

4th quarter turnovers....
great game...but can't turn it over at all in some cases..

[SparzWizard]

I'd like to think maybe Miami won't hit all their deep 3s (they hit quite a few, including desperation ones late in the shotclock) or their contested shots. However, Butler has found his groove and if the C's don't adjust and play better defense he could still probably put up 30+. And I think now Herro will return so that'll only make life more difficult for the C's.

But ultimately, it comes down to the C's actually showing hustle and not making poor decisions.

C's yesterday had 17 turnovers leading to 20 Miami points. They literally started the game with 4 fairly quick turnovers as well which allowed MIA to go on an early run. That simply can't happen.

And lets be honest, watching the game what team looked the most engaged and like they wanted it more? Definitely Miami. Hate to say it because the refs were also atrocious but MIA came to play too. That's been the theme this series really. I don't really count Game 1 since the C's were legit missing Horford + Smart and just had a quick turnaround from the Bucks series. But every game since then the team that won is the team that actually looked the most engaged throughout.

yeah well it DID happen and happens often with this club

oh well. you should not have to win more than 1 on road yet here we are having to win 3. you are tempting fate celtics. we absolutely suck at home. imagine having to win 3 at golden state? LOL  doubt we could win 2 there. GS is UNDEFEATED AT HOME. should not have needed 2 at milwaukee unless it was a sweep like the nets. 1 is all you should need on road if not a HCA team.

For some reason this team just can't defend homecourt. Even in the Nets series it's not like they cruised to victories. Game 1 was the game-winner, then Game 2 they fought back but were down like 17 fairly early and came out flat

Could've easily been down 0-2 in those two games against the Nets, let that sink in for a sec. Just took two stellar 2nd half/4th quarter performances from the C's plus a choke job from the Nets to turn the tables around.

[Phantom255x]

Wonder who the refs will be tomorrow. I'll be pleasantly surprised if it's not Brothers but I think it will be...

[SparzWizard]

Wonder who the refs will be tomorrow. I'll be pleasantly surprised if it's not Brothers but I think it will be...

Could be Ed Malloy too, another bad ref

[Phantom255x]

Wonder who the refs will be tomorrow. I'll be pleasantly surprised if it's not Brothers but I think it will be...

Could be Ed Malloy too, another bad ref

At this point I think all of them are bad