NBA Playoffs Heat vs Celtics: “It’s Definitely Mental” As Celtics Continue to Lose Game 2 From Heat
After the Celtics suffered a second straight defeat to the eighth-seeded Miami Heat to begin the Eastern Conference playoffs, a queue of staff members surrounded Jayson Tatum at his locker.
NBA Playoffs: "It's Definitely Mental" As Celtics Continue to Lose Game 2 From Heat - the image is a video grab.
After the Boston Celtics suffered a second straight defeat to the eighth-seeded Miami Heat to begin the Eastern Conference playoffs, a queue of staff members surrounded Jayson Tatum at his locker.
“We must triumph in both contests in Miami (Heat). That is the task”.
There have been crazier tales written.
Tatum waited until 80 minutes after the final horn to leave the locker room after his teammates had left Friday’s 111-105 loss to the Heat with the burden of having to win four of the five games in the series.
Tatum, whose second-game field goal percentage in the fourth quarter increased to 0-for-3, admitted it was a challenge. It’s pointless to be depressed and miserable up here, right? They won two games after arriving.
They performed well. You should give them credit, but we’re not actually gone. We have a wonderful chance. I remain completely confident. We just need to be ready for Game 3 since everyone is so confident.
Jayson Tatum.
There is a lot of responsibility for Friday’s loss, including the obstinacy of Joe Mazzulla, the Celtics’ rookie head coach, who is battling Erik Spoelstra, the veteran Heat coach, and publicly insists that every decision he makes is the right one.
In-game adjustments be damned; his players’ failure to value every possession a year after that same flaw cost them a championship; and Grant Williams’ challenge of Jimmy Butler, of all people, when the Heat’s hard
However, one risk factor outweighs all others for squandering another double-digit lead.
In other words, it’s mental in terms of who can make the correct plays at the right times, who can make the basic plays, and who can win those nuances and margins. “It’s a series of discipline and mindset,” added Mazzulla.
So, yes, it is undoubtedly mental.
You become who you are at some point, and the Celtics have a history of dropping crucial playoff games, going all the way back to their matchup with the Heat in the conference finals of the previous season.
Miami is just as confident in its ability to play well down the stretch of games that are tight as it is in Boston’s propensity for dips in performance.
Instead of listening to what the game is telling him, Mazzulla has remained true to the game plan. The most recent instance was when Al Horford replaced Robert Williams III for the last 7:41 of the game.
The 36-year-old was increasing his recent 3-point shooting slump to 5-for-29 (17.2%) while avoiding efforts that might have made it worse. Williams was the more active and productive player the entire night despite his shaken state.
The Celtics may have thought about riding him instead. “No,” Mazzulla answered. Al has completed all of his games.
When it mattered most, Bam Adebayo manhandled Horford for an offensive rebound and an uncontested dunk that pushed Miami’s advantage to two possessions for the first time since the beginning of the third quarter, with a minute left and the Heat leading by three points and Boston’s 89-77 lead long since erased.
While doing so, Spoelstra surprised Jaylen Brown (16 points on 7-of-23 shooting) with a variety of shots that the Celtics were unprepared for, including a zone defence that they had seen the Heat use countless times before.
“We just haven’t figured it out in terms of how to exploit it every single time down the floor,” said Brown, who is currently 2-for-13 from long range in the series. “We must be aware of specific circumstances. Praise be to them.
Tatum and Brown made three additional errors in the fourth quarter on Friday after making a combined five the previous night, almost handing the Heat numerous more opportunities.
Brown travelled, holding onto a 98-94 lead with five minutes left to play. Marcus Smart dropped the ball with the score tied at 100 to 100. A few plays later, Tatum collided uncontrollably with Butler, and the Heat capitalised on all three errors by Boston’s top players.
In two games, Miami has scored 70 points off of 30 Celtics errors and 18 offensive rebounds. Seventy.
Robert Williams, who scored seven of his 13 points in the fourth quarter but only managed to grab three rebounds in 23 minutes, remarked, “We need to get together, dude. Time is of the essence. We don’t have time for these blunders”.
Robert Williams
Then came Grant Williams, who filled in for Payton Pritchard in Game 2 after the majority of people had been calling for it in the second half of Game 1.
He performed admirably up until the time when he provoked Butler, whose lone 3-pointer of the game had given the Celtics a 98-87 advantage with 6:37 remaining. In response, Butler backed Williams into the paint, beat him from seven feet away, and drew a foul.
Before Butler made his free throw, the two mismatched players collided in the forehead, earning double technical fouls.
Butler scored again over Williams during Miami’s subsequent possession, this time from five feet.
The Celtics were losing the game, so Williams decided to reply by forcing an ill-advised and careless jumper over the bigger Adebayo.
On Miami’s next two possessions, Butler set up Williams, who made two more pull-up jumpers to turn a 2-point deficit into a 102-100 lead.
They believed he was the solution, Butler said as he quickly fled the court on national television. C’mon. Is that how you plan to solve the Jimmy Butler issue? That’s their response, right? C’mon. That is not the solution.
Although it’s debatable if Butler would have tormented the Celtics regardless of the slurs, the entire incident served as a metaphor for Boston’s attitude of inferiority. When the task is not finished, the Celtics act as though they have won.
The Heat are aware that Boston will release the rope if they keep pulling. In the second, third, and fourth quarters, the Celtics built double-digit leads, but each time they promptly lost them.
“We’ve got to execute better. We had double-digit leads in both games, but a turnover or offensive rebound that resulted in a 3-pointer reversed the momentum”.
Tatum remarked.
Those plays go on an 8-0 run when we are up 12 and might go up 15, and it is now at 4. The current momentum has changed. We have risen. We must improve our ability to execute winning plays in those circumstances.
Not as easy as it seems. The Celtics need to win four out of the next five games, but they may also need to win all of them by a wide margin since we’ve seen this movie too many times before when the score is tight.
Although Boston may have more talent, the Heat are more resilient psychologically and physically under pressure.
“We simply need to engage in combat. Play basketball,” added Brown, who appeared to be trying to persuade himself that the Celtics can reverse 93% of 0–2 deficits.
“They were able to win both of these games, but who’s to say we won’t win the next two games as well? All we need to do is show up prepared to play basketball. unable to lose faith. The first to four is used. Should improve the tale.”
