The Celtics are too good and they embarrass the Heat now. This is the reality since last season. As many people say on Insta or Twitter — “the rivalry is over.” The Heat started strong in the first nine minutes of the game. The defense was playing well. The Celtics were four of 18 from the floor at the start.
Then, the Celtics “just decided to play ball.” Sam Hauser sunk almost every three-point shot he took. Kristaps Porzingis took out every defender put in front of him with nimble moves. And, Jayson Tatum took over the game in the third quarter. Brian Robb from MassLive.com writes in his four takeaways the end of the rivalry, “The Heat will be mediocre for awhile.”
Good things for Heat
The Heat jumped out to a 24-13 lead to start the game. The offense had a rhythm where their points were scored in transition. Bam Adebayo was able to get close looks at the basket and get easy points. He scored nine points on nine shots in the first. Davion Mitchell started at point guard and had four assists with no turnovers in the first half.
Bad things for Heat
Terry Rozier was inserted at 2:37 in the first quarter. At point guard, he didn’t seem to get the other players into the offensive set. The team looked disjointed and the possession was “one pass, one shot.” The Heat went ice cold shooting the ball. From the time Rozier entered to 8:32 in the second quarter, the Heat missed ten straight shots. They also committed three turnovers.
The Heat started to get hesitant to drive to the basket during the first half opposed to the first nine minutes. They shot five for 23 from three-point range in the first half. Watching the game, about half of the three-pointers attempted were open looks. The Heat shot six for 22 from three in the second half.
Neutral things for Heat
Andrew Wiggins shot 25% in the game. He gets a “free pass” for this being his first game. Davion Mitchell needs to work on his three-point shot. There is no worse story than Rajon Rondo when he came into the league. He was a very good point guard, but couldn’t shoot well. Heat coaches can work with Mitchell to improve his shot.
Kyle Anderson played ten minutes and went 0 for 5. Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez didn’t play in the game, but the team is in a shooting funk. Kel’el Ware went up against Porzingis and Horford so he shouldn’t have been expected to score 20 and rebound 10.
To quote Ric Flair, “to be the man, you’ve gotta beat the man.” The Heat with Jimmy Butler were 2-1 in Eastern Conference Finals against Boston. The team made it their mission to beat Miami and they have done so. Every fan should accept this and begin to record all the ways Boston “is going to rub it in the Heat’s face.” No fan should ever forget that Boston flew to Miami after they won the title to do a Championship party.
