Jaylen Makes a Statement: Celtics vs. Heat Game 3 (September 19, 2020)
With their back against the wall, the Celtics hoped to bounce back from a painful Game 2 loss against the Miami Heat. The Boston locker room drama after the last game was either going to light a spark under the team or blow everything up.
As the first quarter began Jaylen Brown (26 pts, 7 reb, 5 ast, 3 stl) was looking like the star of the show. He was scoring on what seemed like every possession for the Celtics. In Game 2 he seemed to be the only one locked in down the stretch, so it’s only right that he started off hot for the C’s.
The first quarter ended up being super evenly matched overall. The Celtics did look like the slightly better team, but Miami was not far behind. The only issue for Boston was that they couldn’t make anything from deep. Meanwhile, the Heat were looking just as solid as usual from that range.
Gordon Hayward (6 pts, 5 reb, 4 ast, 3 ast) made his first appearance in nearly a month, too. While he wasn’t getting too many chances to score, the impact he has on the court was surely going to be felt. Off the bench, he was hopefully going to provide some much-needed depth.
The Celtics ended the first with a solid nine point lead. The great thing was, though, that the scoring was coming from everywhere. Seven different players had scored for the C’s, but the same could be said for Miami. Both teams were getting the ball moving, but Boston’s aggressiveness was giving them a small leg up.
Tyler Herro (22 pts, 3 reb, 4 ast) came out guns a-blazing in the second quarter. He was nailing three after three in Boston’s face, and there was just no stopping it. Kemba Walker (21 pts, 6 reb, 2 ast) was looking solid, too, but the Heat were making a real push to start the second. This was the first real test of the game for the Celtics. Would they fight through it? Or would they crack under the pressure again?
Boston’s centers were struggling at the rim in the first half. Both Enes Kanter (4 pts, 4 reb) and Daniel Theis (8 pts, 7 reb) were missing some easy looks right under the basket. Luckily for them, it wasn’t costing the Celtics too much, as Jayson Tatum (25 pts, 14 reb, 8 ast) and Brown were bailing them out a lot of the time. The young duo was on fire on both ends of the floor, and Brown specifically was super active on the defensive end.
Behind the stellar play of Brown and Tatum, the Celtics had gotten out to a modest lead after the first half. Brown’s defense was the highlight of the second quarter, but as a whole, the Celtics just looked solid. The lineup of Marcus Smart, Walker, Brown, Tatum, and Hayward was back and playing great. The guys in green took a 63-50 lead into halftime, but this game was far from over.
The start of the second half was looking good for the Celtics early on. Grant Williams (5 pts) entered the game for the first time and played some real solid minutes. He hit a nice catch and shoot three in the corner and even got a bucket in the post. That being said, the Celtics had to keep their foot on the gas in this one after the way games 1 and 2 went.
The big thing to note in the third was Boston’s energy. Whether it was Smart making his usual hustle plays, or Grant being everywhere at once, the Celtics had the right mindset through three. After the last two games where they looked sort of out of it, this was a nice change of pace.
The defense continued to reign supreme by the end of the third. Boston was doing a great job of clamping up the Heat, as they were giving up almost no easy looks. That being said, a sloppy end of the quarter struck fear in the heart of C’s fans. They were rushing possessions and ended up taking some less than intelligent shots. They had to regain their composure and quick.
The C’s ended up having a strong final minute and a half of the third and actually did regain their composure to a degree. They were able to do something they hadn’t done yet in this series - stop the bleeding. Boston led by 19 at one point and held a 15 point lead going into the fourth.
As the final quarter moved along, Miami was ice cold from the field. The Heat are normally one of the best three-point shooting teams in the NBA, but in Game 3 they just couldn’t get it going. That being said, the C’s weren’t exactly scoring very well in the fourth, either. The big thing keeping them ahead in this one, though, was their defense.
The Celtics were amazing defensively all throughout this game. Brown specifically was spectacular on that end of the floor, and his offensive game was just as good. He was playing like he was pissed off and man oh man was it working.
Duncan Robinson (13 pts, 4-8 from three) was chipping away at the lead for Miami late in the first. What was once a 19 point lead was cut to 12 with around three minutes left in the game. Meanwhile, Tatum and the Celtics had taken a string of “hero ball” shots on the offensive end. Boston fans everywhere were starting to get flashbacks.
With under a minute and a half remaining, the lead was at 11 points and Miami had the ball. Robinson nailed a three in Boston’s face. Eight point lead for the Celtics. When Brown had the ball on the other end he got called for an offensive foul on Robinson. It was then ruled a flagrant which meant two shots and the ball for Miami. Robinson missed the first and made the second.
On the ensuing Miami possession Bam Adebayo (27 pts, 16 reb, 3 stl, 2 blk) got an easy layup at the rim. The Celtics had a five point lead when Smart drove to the rack and drew a foul. He took a shot way too early into the shot clock but managed to get away with it. Seven point Celtic lead with 46 seconds left in the game.
The Heat were playing full-court press defense, and getting into the face of whoever had the ball for Boston. The heart they play with has always been impressive. Brad Stevens got a timeout off before the C’s could make any dumb decisions.
The Celtics ended up holding on to win in the final seconds of the game, with Smart icing it with some much needed makes from the free throw line. They avoid going down 3-0 and essentially save their season. Still a lot of work to do, though. Catch Game 4 on Wednesday, September 23rd at 8:30 PM EST.
