Miami Steals Game 1 in Boston Thanks to Dominant 3rd Quarter

BOSTON – The Boston Celtics outscored the Miami Heat in three out of four quarters Thursday night. But one rocky third frame wound up costing the C’s Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Miami used a 46-25 third-quarter advantage to steal the series-opener at TD Garden by a score of 123-116.

The Heat were held in the 20s during the other three frames, including the first two which added up to a 66-57 halftime advantage for the Celtics. So that begged the question: What got away from Boston in those 12 minutes after the break?

“We lost one quarter because we dropped our sense of urgency,” said Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla. “We got away from who we are in the third quarter.”

Specifically, the Celtics dropped their physicality. Or rather, the Heat upped theirs, and Boston didn’t match them.

“We had a game plan to come out and be very physical,” said Marcus Smart. “First half, we did a pretty good job; second half we didn’t. When you’re playing against a team like Miami, when you don’t come out and execute the game plan, they make you pay.

Smart insisted the difference in the game was as simple as that.

“The only thing we need to adjust to is picking up our physicality and playing some damn defense,” said Boston’s starting point guard. “That’s the only thing they switched. They didn’t change anything from the first half that they weren’t doing, they just upped their physicality and that’s it. There’s nothing tactical, X’s and O’s, it’s just come out and guard your yard. They scored 46 in that third, and they got going, and they made us pay, and they led into the fourth quarter.”

Miami’s increased physicality played a role in decreasing Boston’s pace. As a result, the C’s lost their first-half flow.

In the opening half, Boston handed out 15 assists (including 10 from Smart) and committed only five turnovers. In the second half, their assist total was cut in half to seven, and their turnover total doubled to 10. 

Jayson Tatum said their out-of-sync offense was a result of their inability to limit Miami’s offense on the other end.

“I think in the third quarter we kind of played too slow, mainly because we weren’t getting stops,” said Tatum, Boston’s leading scorer with 30 points. “In the fourth quarter, we made a couple of runs, got to push the ball, and those go hand in hand with getting stops and getting out in transition. So, it starts on the defensive end. Just play with some more pace, play a little bit faster.”

Ironically, Boston ran into the same issue in last year’s ECF Game 1 matchup in Miami. In both games, the Celtics won the first, second, and fourth quarters by a total margin of 14 points. And in both games, Miami dominated the third quarter by 20-plus, giving it enough of a cushion to take a 1-0 series advantage.

Of course, the Celtics wound up coming back to win that series to go on to the Finals. So this year’s team understands that one game is just one game.

“We’ve just got to keep playing basketball,” said Jaylen Brown. “We’re too far to hang our heads. We’re too far to look back and be like, the series is over. It’s one game. So we’ve just got to get ready to play the next one. Made some mistakes tonight. Got a great opportunity the next game on Friday to come out and play and lift our intensity. I’m looking forward to it.”