Heat doesn’t fully describe what Miami was dropping from behind the arc in Game 2 against the Boston Celtics on Wednesday at TD Garden. The Heat hit 23 3-pointers to secure the win, even the series 1-1 and flip home-court advantage.
Miami’s number of made 3s are a team record for a playoff game and only one shy of tying the mark for any game in team history (Dec. 14, 2022 at OKC).
Tyler Herro, who hit six 3s and had 24 points, also contributed a career-high 14 assists, passing Jimmy Butler — who had 13 in Game 2 of 2020 Finals — for the most in a road playoff game in Heat history.
Just broke our season-high for three-pointers in a half with 13 🔥
Tyler’s got 4 of ’em pic.twitter.com/LICe9trN9F
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) April 25, 2024
Celtics 111, Heat 101
Series: Tied 1-1
Game 3: Saturday at 6 p.m. ET in Miami
The Heat flip the script
It didn’t look like this series was going to get too competitive after Game 1. Miami wasn’t taking 3s, its defense couldn’t quite handle the Jays and Boston’s firepower was just too much in the end. But the script completely flipped Wednesday. The Heat effectively turned into the Celtics and vice versa.
This time, it was Miami raining 3s, with Herro having one of his best games of the season running point. Caleb Martin looked like the guy who tore Boston apart in the conference finals last year. So this wasn’t just a run of the mill eight-seed-gets-lucky-shooting kind of win. This raises real questions about whether Boston can hold a strategic advantage as this series carries on. Can Kristaps Porziņģis actually catch the ball and hit a shot against Miami’s active wings constantly making his life difficult?
The Celtics’ defensive effort had major holes in it and they are going to need to close out better and find a way to keep up with the Herro-Bam Adebayo pick-and-roll. That action torched the Celtics defense from start to finish, so how can Boston adjust? Can Derrick White finally get over those screens? Will Boston have to start switching more and let Adebayo attack the guards?
This was one of those games that reminds you why everyone fears the Heat come playoff time. Coach Erik Spoelstra showed he can make his team turn into whatever it needs to be to get a win in the postseason. The Celtics will need much greater effort deeper into possessions and less offensive predictability to seize control of this series. — Jared Weiss, Celtics beat writer
Welcome to the three-point party, Delon! pic.twitter.com/Q6D2L7eZu5
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) April 25, 2024
The underdog’s gambit
Boston won Game 1 on the strength of a 22-12 advantage in 3-point makes, and Spoelstra’s plan for Game 2 seemed to be designed to, as Jared said, flip that script. Spoelstra insisted on the broadcast that his team was just taking the shots that the Celtics defense was surrendering, but taking 15 3-pointers compared to just four 2s in the first quarter was an extreme adherence to embracing the underdog’s gambit.
The Heat broke a franchise record for 3s made in a playoff game with 23 — to Boston’s 12, a virtual reversal of Sunday’s game. Four Heat players had three or more 3s, led by Herro’s six. Defensively, Miami played a switch-heavy scheme designed to bait the Celtics into one-on-one offense. The Celtics scored well in the paint, but couldn’t create the second-chance points to fully capitalize on the mismatches.
Spoelstra isn’t one to sit still strategically. Even after a win, he tinkers. One name to watch: Nikola Jović. The second-year forward was a minus-25 in Game 1, and had five turnovers on Wednesday. He sat down the stretch of the game, which isn’t unusual. However, without Butler, the perimeter defense of Haywood Highsmith seems increasingly important. Jović did have 11 points, nine rebounds and six assists, so it is not as if he has been wildly out of place.
Spoelstra has to know his team won’t shoot 54 percent from deep most nights, so he will continue to look for margins to exploit. — Eric Koreen, NBA staff writer
Thursday’s NBA playoffs schedule
Cavaliers versus Magic (Game 3): 7 p.m. ET in Orlando (Magic lead 2-0)
Knicks versus 76ers (Game 3): 7:30 p.m. ET in Philadelphia (Knicks lead 2-0)
Nuggets versus Lakers (Game 3): 10 p.m. ET in Los Angeles (Nuggets lead 2-0)
Required reading
(Photo: Winslow Townson / Getty Images)
