The following comes courtesy of Bard, Google’s AI platform except where bold.
Don’t just watch the game, play along with thePeachBasket Pick’em!
The Miami Heat defeated the Boston Celtics 111-105 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals last night. The Heat now lead the series 2-0.
Jimmy Butler led the way for the Heat with 27 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists. Caleb Martin (Playoff career-high 25 points) and Bam Adebayo (22 points, 16 rebounds, 9 assists) [So close! Bam had 17 total rebounds] added a combined 47 points in the victory. Jayson Tatum tallied 34 points, 13 rebounds, and 8 assists for the Celtics.
The Heat trailed by as many as 11 points in the fourth quarter, but they went on a 24-9 run to close out the game. The Heat shot 50.6% from the field and 40.7% from 3-point range in the game [Heat shot 45.7% from the field and 34.6% from deep]. The Celtics shot 46.8% from the field and 35.7% from 3-point range [Bard got the FG% right, but Celtics shot 28.6% from deep].
The Heat will look to close out the series in Game 3 on Sunday in Miami. [This is still a best of seven series!]
I am very impressed that Bard appears to be learning. It is getting the stats closer to reality than it has in the past. It’s learning y’all!
For fun, I asked Bard what it felt the Celtics needed to do to win a game.
The Celtics need to do a number of things better if they want to win a game against the Heat.
Here are a few things they can focus on:
- Limit turnovers. The Celtics turned the ball over 15 times in Game 2, which led to 26 Miami points. They need to take better care of the ball and make sure they don’t give the Heat easy opportunities.
- Improve their 3-point shooting. The Celtics shot just 35.7% from 3-point range in Game 2 [They were worse than that shooting only 28.6%]. They need to find ways to get their shooters open and knock down shots from beyond the arc.
Get more production from their bench. The Celtics’ bench was outscored by the Heat’s bench 42-23 in Game 2 [Heat bench outscored the Celtics by 42-33]. They need to get more contributions from their reserves if they want to win. - Slow down Jimmy Butler. Butler has been a force for the Heat in this series. The Celtics need to find ways to slow him down and make it difficult for him to get to the basket.
If the Celtics can do these things, they will have a better chance of winning a game against the Heat.
Honestly, despite some misses on the numbers, that is a great analysis. Bard is getting ready for COTY consideration next season!