On April 25, Beijing time, the NBA playoffs ushered in the first round of G2 between the Celtics and the Heat. The Heat suffered a painful loss in the G1 battle, and due to Butler's absence, they appeared rather passive in the game. By the end of the first half, they had trailed by 15 points, and the third quarter was 14-31, and the hope of winning was lost early. Although Bam Adebayo had a strong performance, scoring 24 points and six rebounds on 10-of-18 shooting and becoming the team's best player, while Wright, who came off the bench, was also solid and scored 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting, the Heat as a whole could not cope with the intensity of the Green Army. Herro's aberrations were even more disappointing, scoring just 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting.
As the leaders of the East, the Celtics showed their strong side in this G1, easily defeating the Heat and successfully winning G1. Although Tatum had a mediocre hand, especially shooting only 1 of 8 from three-point range, he still contributed 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Brown also contributed 17 points and eight rebounds, while Porzingis and White had 18 and 20 points, respectively. In addition to the excellent performance of the starters, the Celtic bench players also performed well, and the trio combined to contribute 30 points and make a significant contribution to the team's victory. In the G2 game, Butler, Rozier and Richardson were all sidelined due to injury, which undoubtedly brought a greater challenge to the Heat, and the Celtics only had Cornet absent.
At the beginning of the game, the two sides quickly entered the competitive state. Tatum felt hot, shot inside and outside, and scored 14 points in a single quarter. The Heat, on the other hand, blossomed more, and although they were not good at three-point shooting, they still responded to their opponents with this, hitting 8 three-pointers in the first quarter to take a narrow lead of 1 point. Entering the second quarter, the Celtics finally found their touch on the outside, and an 11-4 offensive wave put them ahead of the score. However, Martin and Herro were equally hot on the outside, constantly responding, and the two sides launched a fierce battle of attack. Jaylen Brown played well in the quarter, scoring 15 points in a single quarter to lead the Celtics to a three-point lead at halftime.
In the second half of the game, the two sides continued to engage in a tug-of-war. Jaylen Brown is still in good form, but Martin and Herro are also not to be outdone and continue to respond. At one point, the Heat played a small climax, overtaking the score to double digits. However, the duo teamed up to chase and narrowed the gap to 6 points. In the final quarter of the game, Wright, Highsmith and Harkes hit three-pointers one after another, breaking the team's all-time playoff record. Despite the Celtics' efforts to chase down points, the Heat always responded and maintained a lead of around 10 points. In the end, the Heat beat the Celtics and tied the score at 1-1.
In this game, the Heat played a posture of all the people, and the efficiency was extremely high. Herro, who played abnormally in the last game, shot 7-of-13 from the field and 6-of-11 from 3-point range and had 24 points and 14 assists, Martin was 7-of-12 from the field and 5-of-6 from 3-point range and scored 21 points, Jovic was 3-of-4 from 3-of-3 with 11 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals, Harkes was 3-of-6 from 3-of-13 with 14 points and 2 rebounds, Adebayo was 9-of-13 from the field and had 21 points, 10 rebounds and 2 assists from the bench at Highsmith on the bench with 3-of-5 from 3-point range, Dunroe hit 2 3-pointers and 6 points, Wright hit 1 3-pointer and scored 5 points, and the Heat team made 23 of 43 from 3-point range, setting a new single-game 3-point shooting record in Heat history。 It was with a high-percentage 3-pointer that the Heat defeated the Celtics 111-101.
So who is the culprit of the Celtics' loss? In this game, the performance of the two Tanhua was not bad, of which Brown shot 13 of 23, 4 of 9 from 3 points, and scored 33 points, 8 rebounds and 1 assist, however, the Celtics lost by 22 points within Brown's 37 points, Tatum shot 10 of 20, 2 of 6 from 3, and got 28 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists, but the team won by 6 points in the 41 minutes Tatum was on the court. As the Celtics' biggest signings last summer, Pozin completely pulled this game, 1 of 9, 0 of 3 points and 4 points, only 6 points, Pozin was on the field for 30 points, and the Celtics lost 32 points, which is undoubtedly the culprit of the Green Army's loss, and he simply couldn't limit Adebayo's play! In addition, White scored 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting, his presence on both offensive and defensive ends was low, and after Smart left, White has been shouldering the burden of outside defense, and he has done a great job throughout the regular season, but he didn't expect to be blown up when he was beaten by Martin in the G2 game. Holiday scored nine points on 12-of-12 shooting, 1-of-3, but the Celtics were in winning form during his 37 minutes on the floor.
It is worth mentioning that according to the data model calculation of the authoritative American media "BR", the Celtics are proud of their regular season record, and the probability of them eliminating the Heat is as high as an astonishing 96.5%. Not only that, but they also have a 76.7% chance of winning the Eastern Conference and a 60% chance of winning the championship. In addition, ESPN previously formed an 11-member expert group, 10 people believe that the Heat will be swept by the Green Army, and 11 all believe that the Green Army will eliminate the Heat! Experts generally believe that almost no team can create substantial pressure on the Celtics, but I didn't expect the slap in the face to come so quickly!
The Heat team is really moving, no matter who is missing or gone for so many years, whether it is a draft or a rookie, under the leadership of Spo, he can twist out a rope and play his extreme ability, which can frequently bring everyone a shocking and incredible feeling, so I think Spo is the best coach in the NBA at present, and with him in the Heat, the most resilient team in the league.