NBA Playoffs: The Boston Celtics’ Last Game Against Miami Heat – Gabe Vincent 3 Points

MIAMI — Early in the third quarter, the Heat had a 23-point advantage thanks to another 3-pointer from Gabe Vincent following another layup miss by Marcus Smart. Jimmy Butler then knelt at centre court to request a Celtics timeout, which rookie coach Joe Mazzulla did.

Al Horford made the same jest earlier in the Eastern Conference finals, before Boston lost its first of several series-opening 12-point leads.

Max Strus, a Miami wing, received a technical foul at the same time for mocking the Celtics. The same Max Strus that the Celtics waived so that Tacko Fall could serve as their human victory cigar for 169 minutes of trash time.

Strus stated of the first taunting technical of his NBA career, “Jimmy got that one for me. “I was merely riding along behind him. Though probably not wise, I’ll take it. Whatever.” Moreover, what did Strus say? Can’t say that in this place.

Miami was making fun of Boston while their route to a shocking 128-102 victory and a 3-0 series lead. The Miami Heat have a chance to sweep the second seed and progress to the NBA Finals at home in Game 4 on Tuesday (8:30 p.m. ET, TNT), two rounds after defeating the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in five games.

If the Celtics hadn’t already given up before boarding the plane, it makes little sense to analyse this game beyond stating that Miami molly-whopped them until they gave up. In a few of them this postseason, it was undoubtedly Boston’s most awful performance, and Kaseya Centre outright partied at the funeral.

Duncan Robinson, a Miami sharpshooter, commented, “Man, it was noisy in here.

The Strus tech had only been on the court for two minutes when Jayson Tatum walked back to the defence, giving Caleb Martin another opportunity to shoot a wide-open jump shot. On the following drive, Tatum made his third error, which allowed Strus to score a layup. It apparently got worse after Mazzulla requested another timeout with the Heat leading 83-56.

Miami had a 33-point lead at one time. It could have easily been 1969. It was a joke, the game.

A group of Heat undrafted players, including Vincent, Strus, Robinson, and Martin, scored 79 points in total on 62.2% shooting, including 17 of 31 from three-point range (54.8%).

The Celtics’ complete seven-player rotation, which they used to defeat the Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers in the opening two rounds, totaled 59 points on 24-of-72 field goals (33.3%) and 6-of-31 long-range attempts (19.4%).

A postseason career-high 29 points were scored by Vincent, who was playing in Sioux Falls when the Heat defeated the Celtics in the conference finals, outscoring All-NBA wings Jaylen Brown and Tatum (who combined for 26 points on 12-for-35 field goal shooting and 1-for-14 three-point shooting).

Do we really need to say anything else? The Celtics responded to dropping the first quarter, 30-22, by allowing Robinson to walk through the lane for a basket on the first possession of the second. This was a game they urgently needed to win.

Marcus Smart decided that the only way he could generate offence with a 13-point deficit was to flounder in the backcourt rather than pick up the tempo in transition. Instead, he received a warning for an offensive foul.

Brown and Tatum, who were down by 21 points, were just staring at one another when Brown missed a 3-point attempt with nine seconds remaining in the shot clock. It wasn’t obvious whether they even had a strategy.

If they did, it wouldn’t have mattered much because Malcolm Brogdon, Smart, Tatum, Brown, and Horford all made airballs. This is a true story that occurred.

“Just being transparent, it’s unfortunate,” Tatum remarked. We clearly desired to perform and play better, have a different result, or at the very least give ourselves an opportunity. It’s hard. We didn’t have it tonight for some reason. You don’t want to say that at this point in the season, but that’s on us.

The Celtics had a chance to reduce the score to 15 at one point in the second quarter, but instead of attacking, Derrick White slowed down enough on the break for Cody Zeller to block his attempt.

Naturally, Grant Williams was mocked on the other end when Butler scored on him, drew a foul, and laid on the court for what seemed like an eternity pointing at the Celtics forward. This was the second time in three days that Butler had mocked Williams in front of a large audience.

The fourth quarter was not even played by anyone notable. Boston had already stopped.

“I don’t even know where to start,” Brown admitted. It’s a blatant letdown. We collectively failed our supporters, our organisation, and ourselves. We can blame, but the truth is that it was embarrassing.

Mazzulla came the closest to resigning while a series was still in progress of any coach ever.

“I just didn’t have them ready to play,” he admitted. “I should’ve, uh, — whatever it was, whether it was the starting lineup or an adjustment, I have to get them in a better place, ready to play, and that’s on me.”

Is there a rift separating the coach and his team?

Mazzulla agreed, saying, “That’s where I need to improve.

Despite Mazzulla’s best efforts, his players shared equal blame for Sunday’s disaster.

Mazzulla acknowledged that his squad had lost the defensive identity that got them to the NBA Finals the previous season and emphasised that he must help them find it once more.

This attitude was mirrored by Tatum, who said, “We just have to do a better job of being there for one another, having each other’s back and just being a little more connected.” They both seemed unaware of how challenging that would be to do in just 48 hours.

On the other hand, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra appeared to be enjoying it at the podium as his team twisted the knife into the same Celtics that had eliminated them in the seven-game conference finals the year before.

With one more victory, Spoelstra may make his sixth trip in the Finals.

“Everything that we went through previously, some of the emotions are coming out,” he said. “I like it. Let’s just steer this and keep our attention on the work at hand. We’ll relax tomorrow, but we’ll truly clear our heads so we can finish this”.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra

If Boston is unable to come back from a 3-0 deficit, something that all 149 teams in its situation have previously failed to do, changes are imminent. No matter how difficult Miami is, the Celtics can no longer tell themselves that they have the fight to utilise this as fuel for next season after a sweep at the hands of an eighth seed.

On Tuesday, the coach’s job is almost probably on the line, and the roster may also need to be adjusted. If the Celtics give up once again in Game 4, we will be able to tell for sure how committed they are to supporting one another.

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