After the Celtics won the shooting war in their Game 1 victory, the Heat anticipate shooting more threes in Game 2.
Boston — Before Tuesday’s practice, Terry Rozier refused to go to the rim or attempt a shot, choosing instead to stand to the side in his uniform and hold the ball in his hands. With Jimmy Butler unable to be found and the series down 1-0, Duncan Robinson declared his back would not heal entirely unless he had a longer layoff. The Heat are again double-digit underdogs going into a playoff game at Boston, having been given +8500 odds by one sports book.
With Butler unlikely to play in this series and no information known regarding Rozier’s neck condition, one hope may yet exist. Make threes happen. Delon Wright’s five three-pointers to start the fourth quarter helped Miami come back from a 31-point deficit to within 14 points, providing the Heat with a glimpse of their path to competitiveness. Boston tied a team record with 22 three-pointers, outscored the Heat 32.4% to 44.9%, and hung on for a 20-point victory.
Wright stated, “I looked up at one point, and there were like thirty or more threes to our seven or eight (attempts).” “We have to put up more threes, but we won’t be able to stop them from making threes. We’ll just have to make things harder for them. Don’t let the opportunity slip by. I have to let it fly, as I mentioned before, and the same goes for the other males they are leaving free. I passed on a couple.
Wright saw that when Boston doubled Bam Adebayo or Tyler Herro, he, Caleb Martin, and other teammates were exposed. One of the most important margin statistics that Joe Mazzulla highlights is the three-point attempt duel, which went 49-37 in Boston’s favor even though the Heat managed to keep within 82-81 in shot attempts. They controlled turnovers (9) for the most part, but two shot clock infractions in that total indicated times when they faltered in the face of a persistent, adaptable Celtics defense. The Heat only made three long-range shots, shooting 21.4% from three and 43.9% from the field.
Plans, according to Erik Spoelstra, won’t matter as much as Miami’s mentality to reach and try different ways against the occasionally five Celtics shooters on the court. They allowed Sam Hauser and Payton Pritchard enough room to go 6-for-11 from deep. Miami tried 33.7 threes per game during the regular season, ranking 13th, while Boston attempted 42.5 threes per game, the highest in the NBA. For the Heat and the Celtics, their final efficiency percentages were 37.0% and 38.8%, respectively. Herro led the team in scoring (7.9) every night, followed by Robinson, Rozier, Josh Richardson, Kevin Love, and Kyle Lowry—three of whom are now injured and Lowry is currently in Philadelphia.
Spoelstra stated, “You don’t want to lose 30 points in a certain area.” “Last game, we made more three-pointers.” Even so, some was left on the table. I have no idea if we’ll shoot 49 in the end. Therefore, there will need to be some sort of equilibrium that lowers their number somewhat. There is a line there where we can take a few more and maybe get them off a few more, but we’re not going to shoot 50 or reduce their threes to 25, that’s not realistic.
Despite all the discussion of physicality, mindset, defense, runs, and clutch play, three-point shooting was a major factor in the East Finals last season. During the previous year’s series, the Heat shot 43.4% from three, while the Celtics’ shooting completely collapsed, finishing at 30.3% with Jayson Tatum shooting 23.4% and Jaylen Brown hitting 16.3%. Mazzulla pointed out that the Celtics have a strategy in place to restrict the kind of three-pointers the Heat want to make, emphasizing transition. On the other hand, from a different angle, Miami would have to offer Boston something in order to take something away.
This season, the Celtics were much more successful in winning when their three-pointers failed, primarily because of Kristaps Porzingis’ 1.30 points per possession from post-ups. In games where they shot fewer threes than the league average (36.6%), they went 20-12. In 2022–2023 that record was 19–20. In the first game, Tatum was just 1-for-8, Brown was 3-for-5, and Porzingis was 4-for-8 from three and 3-of-5 from two.
Holiday declared, “We’re not just a three-point shooting team.” “We have mid-range players, players who can finish at the basket, and players who are getting to the paint in large numbers.” We are free to explore any angle. I believe we have counters if they try to take away the three.
