The Miami Heat defeated the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals 118-107. The top seed played a superb third quarter, led by Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, to counter a strong first half from the weakened visitors.
Jimmy Butler was the dominating play for the hosts, the heat-forward scoring 17 of his 41 points (12/19 FG, 17/18 FT) in the third quarter. In addition, Butler recorded 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals and repeatedly put the Celtics’ ball handlers under pressure. Tyler Herro (18, 7/15) kissed the hosts awake after a weak start.
Gabe Vincent (17) was convincing, as was Bam Adebayo (10, 3/4, 4 blocks), both of whom played a large part in the Heat completely throwing Boston out of rhythm early in the second half and punishing them in transition. Jayson Tatum (29, 10/21, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals) played an outstanding first half with 21 points, but managed 6 turnovers in the third quarter alone.
Robert Williams (18, 9 rebounds) was one of the bright spots for the guests, and Daniel Theis (8, 4/5, 4 rebounds) also had a few good moments, including this monster block against Dewayne Dedmon’s dunk attempt. Payton Pritchard scored 18 points (6/16), but was repeatedly involved in plays on defense by the Heat and Butler due to his size.
The Celtics made double substitutions compared to Game 7 as Marcus Smart (foot) and Al Horford (Corona) were out. Derrick White started for them and Robert Williams on the front court, who dominated the first few minutes. Miami needed some time (0/7 to start), it was only with Herro that the offense started to roll. The Celtics still led 28:25 after a quarter.
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Heat Defense and Butler turn game around
With Tatum and “Time Lord” back on the pitch, the visitors pulled away for the first time. Twice Tatum found the center with a lob and also completed a few drives. There was also offense from Pritchard, while there was very little from the role players of the hosts. The Celtics were leading 62:54 at the break, with Tatum hitting a jump shot by the end of the half and having already collected 21 points.
But it was only three minutes before Miami took the lead. A quick 10-1 run angered Celtics coach Ime Udoka, but things didn’t get much better after a break. It took seven minutes for Boston to post a field goal, during which time the visitors instead accumulated 5 turnovers, twice Butler stole the ball for easy points. Tatum lost the ball six times, the Celtics’ rhythm was completely gone and Miami won the quarter 39:14 (!). The game was turned, the Heat led 93:76.
The game seemed to be over, but after just two minutes the Celtics were already in the bonus. With a 10-0 run, the guests reduced the deficit to -10 with Butler on the bench. But they couldn’t get any closer at first, as Butler was mercilessly looking for Pritchard on defense and Max Strus now hit his three-pointer. Boston didn’t give up, but Butler always had an answer and confidently rocked the win home even in crunch time.
The most important statistics
Miami Heat (1) vs. Boston Celtics (2) 118:107 (BOXSCORE), Serie: 1-0
- The Boston Celtics tore down the heat in the first half. The visitors scored 42 of the 62 points in the zone, giving the Celtics just two points less than the postseason record (since 1997/98). At the same time, it was a franchise record for Boston, both regular season and playoffs. 28 of the Celtics’ 44 attempts came in the zone, with Boston sinking 59 percent of shots in the first 24 minutes.
- In the third quarter, however, the glory was over. Miami kept the visitors to 14 points and just two field goals (15 attempts, 13.3 percent). Nobody has scored that badly in the past four seasons – regular season or playoffs. The Heat also forced 8 turnovers (6 against Tatum, 2 against Brown), which they used to score 12 points. Boston scored only 6 points in the zone in the second half.
- As in all of the playoffs, the Heat didn’t hit particularly well from long range. It was 33 percent (10/30) in the end, but that was enough. Max Strus and Gabe Vincent each sunk three attempts, all of which were important shots and gave Miami momentum. Boston, on the other hand, only took 34 attempts, in the Bucks series there were significantly more.
- It was Jimmy Butler’s fifth playoff game in which he hit 40 points with at least 60 percent from the field. The Heat star now shares third place with Charles Barkley. Only LeBron James (12) and Shaquille O’Neal (8) managed to do this more often.
- It was the game of blocks. Combined, both teams played 20 blocks, the Heat set a new season record with 12 rejection. In addition to Adebayo (4), Butler and point guard Vincent each had 3 blocks.
Heat vs. Celtics: The thoughts on the game
Ime Udoka (Head Coach Celtics): “It’s disappointing that we were surprised by Miam’s physical play. We talked about that at half-time. We reacted badly, just trying to pull fouls instead of making the right plays.”
Erik Spoelstra (Head Coach Heat): “Jimmy Butler is a real fighter. There are a lot of people in this league who want to play basketball, but he plays to win. That’s a big difference and Jimmy does it like nobody else in the NBA.”
Jimmy Butler (Heat): “I don’t care if the stage is small or big. I just do my thing. I love the physical game and like to run into my opponents to see who falls down first. I want to know who folds first.”
Star of the game: Jimmy Butler
Miami was just more physical in this game and nobody embodied that better than Jimmy G. Buckets. The Heat star dominated with his physical presence under the basket and grabbed numerous free throws (Boston fell on every pump fake). In the third quarter, his efforts on defense also increased, and he single-handedly won the section against the Celtics team 17:14. As Boston worked on a comeback in the final stretch, Butler sank midrange jumper after midrange jumper.
Flop of the match: Jaylen Brown
It seemed a bit headless at times, what Brown did over the 48 minutes. Always aggressively looking for the way to the basket, but too often ran into a wall of Heat defenders. Without Smart and Horford, 24 points (7/17) were just not enough, mainly because most of them didn’t come until the fourth quarter (after 36 minutes: 9 PTS, 3/12 FG), when the game felt like it was already decided. 7 Tatum turnovers were also unexcusable.
scene of the game
The Celtics were struggling at the start of the third quarter, which was the period in which Adebayo had his best period of the game for the Heat. One scene that stood out was when the center was isolated against Brown and he made a move to the basket. Adebayo stuck around and unpacked a massive chasedown block, which ended in a wedgie. The heat center also secured the following jump ball.
NBA Playoffs – Heat vs. Celtics: The Series at a Glance (1-0)
| Spiel | Datum | time | Heim | away | result |
| 1 | May 18th | 2.30 a.m | Miami Heat | Boston Celtics | 118:107 |
| 2 | 20. May | 2.30 a.m | Miami Heat | Boston Celtics | |
| 3 | 22. May | 2.30 a.m | Boston Celtics | Miami Heat | |
| 4 | 24. May | 2.30 a.m | Boston Celtics | Miami Heat | |
| 5* | 26. May | 2.30 a.m | Miami Heat | Boston Celtics | |
| 6* | 28. May | 2.30 a.m | Boston Celtics | Miami Heat | |
| 7* | 30. May | 2.30 a.m | Miami Heat | Boston Celtics |
*if necessary
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