2022 - 2023 POST GAME MIAMI HEAT - AWAY

Celtics Wrap: Boston’s Efficient Offense Cruises In Win Over Heat
Tatum and Brown led the way again


NESN by Gio Rivera

Meeting for the first time since last season?s Eastern Conference finals, the Boston Celtics defeated the Miami Heat 111-104 on Friday at FTX Arena.

The Celtics improved to 2-0 on the season, while the Heat fell to 0-2.

ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
The last time these two met on the floor, it took a seven-game battle for the playoff round to reach its conclusion. That same back-and-forth competitive nature was present in this close contest.

Much like Boston’s season opener, the Celtics offensive maintained an efficient momentum through all four quarters of play — a trend that initially began during preseason action.

The Celtics outshot the Heat from both the field (51.9%, 45.7%) and 3-point territory (42.4%, 30.8%), due in large part to another strong performance from Boston’s young stud duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. The two combined for 57 points.

However, due to ball security or lack thereof, the Heat remained within striking distance of taking possession of the lead for good. Miami finished the night totaling 23 points off 19 Celtics turnovers.

STARS OF THE GAME
— Tatum led the way for the Celtics scoring in Miami, totaling 29 points on 10-of-22 shooting from the field. The 24-year-old also totaled five rebounds and three assists.

— Brown followed Tatum’s lead, scoring 28 points on 12-of-18 shooting from the field. The 25-year-old also totaled four rebounds and three assists.

— Heat point guard Tyler Herro led Miami in scoring, totaling 25 points on 10-of-21 shooting from the field. The 22-year-old also finished with six rebounds and two assists.

WAGER WATCH
DraftKings Sportsbook set the odds of veteran guard Derrick White’s Over/Under point total at 9.5 with -105 odds on the Over. White cleared the Over, scoring 10 points while knocking down 2-of-4 3-point attempts with six rebounds and two blocks. A $100 bet on White’s scoring total would’ve resulted in a $195.24 payout.

UP NEXT
Following the win, the Celtics next prepare to face off against the Orlando Magic during their second road matchup of the season. Tip off from Amway Center is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.

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Interesting game to watch last night. The first thing that popped out was the Assist/FGM stat. Considerably less than all out other games. Plus the TO's were back up again. But again it didn't seem like they were that high by the end of the game.

We kept one of their Big 2 in check with Strus a no-show. Herro was indeed their Hero. Lowry woke up from a long summer's nap as predicted, getting our guys in foul trouble again.

Yet, with this game, I wasn't annoyed at Tatum or Brown just doing their own thing ala James Harden. There were some legit Dominique Wilkins Human Highlight Reel plays by these two as this team, just as dboss predicted, steamrolled MIA. MIA may be in trouble as they now join the Lakers and PHI in the cellar hopefully to stay. Unfortunately, BKN could not join them as they won a squeaker vs. TOR. That sucks, although Perks comment that Steve Nash will be watching the NBA from Canada this Christmas is still making me chuckle. The finger is still firm hovering over and on the nuke button in BKN. We'll see how that plays out. Someone mentioned Ime may be on the short list if things don't work out in BKN. That might be a problem. Boston's going to have to come out with their final plans for the Ime future at some point.

We held off several runs by MIA and never seemed rattled. That was impressive. But at the same time we were blowing leads again to a certain extent. I never felt we were going to blow this game or not withstand any of their runs.

Just looking at the scorecard, everybody contributed almost equally. I don't think it bothers me that the two J's can be 25+/5/5 vs. night-in/night-out 3D threats. Yes, they can get those when and if needed, but that's not going to be their game nor the theme of this team.

Overall, very good game. Somehow, sans RWIII, we're crushing the boards. Something's up there. I'm guessing it's gang rebounding yet we're moving the ball over half court ala Rondo G6/2008 Finals. Still not as much as I would like, but MIA's defense wasn't set a good portion of that game as we had them on their heels most of the game. POTO's, despite our efforts to sabotage ourselves and giving MIA the keys to the Kingdom, was also impressive. Fast Break Points, while not noteworthy, we won 12-6. But we were seeing some very good ISO ball since MIA was daring us by leaving the lane wide open. MIA looked slow and lethargic at times. Oh well. Not my monkeys, not my problem as my wife always says.

Well, time to start counting B2B's because here comes the first one tonight vs. ORL. It will be interesting to see how CJ plays things out with Horford, etc.

No prediction yet. I may be retiring. I'm 0-2, but I'm really 2-0!! Bench should get some extended time. It that a Pritchard sighting?!! Nope. WTH, Bo? He's going to have to be ready when his number is called ala Vinnie Johnson.

db

Mazzulla’s 4-wing starting lineup has been very effective.

Vonleh and GWilliams bringing frontcourt depth so far.

‘PSSST…Hey buddy, we may actually have a bench. Pass it on.’

Missed the game, again, due to Friday Happy Hour.

Looking at the boxscore it looks like they won in ways other than the ways they've been winning.  Low assist-to-fgm ratio.  19 turnovers vs 8 for Miami.  Killed them on the boards, 43-36, and lost the battle of steals 4-8.  That's 15 more changes of possession in their favor.  We had 11 blocks vs 3 for them.  That's unusual.  We also had a 12-6 advantage in fast break points.  Joe has done an absolutely fabulous job of not only getting our players to play uptempo basketball but to keep playing it for most of the game.  Somewhere Tommy is looking down with a big smile.

Sean Grande @SeanGrandePBP
about 8 hours ago
Absurdly small sample size alert, but through two games... The Celtics are shooting 54.0% from the floor, runaway best, Denver (50.9%) is the only other team at 50% or above. Boston also leads the league (at the 1/41st mark) in Offensive Rating, True Shooting and Effective FG%

The Js.  57 points on 22-40.  That's 55% from two players that took over half the team's fgas (40 out of 79).  That's how you win.  They are just straight out dominating out of the starting gate this season.  There is no other pair of teammates in the league with higher combined scoring averages so far.  Tatum is #7 @ 32ppg and Brown is #13 @ 31.5ppg for a combined 63.5ppg.  You have to go down to the surprising New Orleans Pelicans' Ingram and Valanciunas @ #15 and #16 before you get another pair of teammates and their combined average is 40.5ppg, a far cry from almost 64ppg.

At about the 1:00 mark with the score 9-4 Miami Lowry flops.  No call.  On one of the nexst trips down the floor and the score 9-6 Miami Lowry flops.  No call.  I don't want to hear people bitch about Smart flopping when Lowry's aren't even close to believable.




Atlanta and Washington are both 2-0 too.  Atlanta has a +14 MOV while ours is +8, however, they played the awful Houston Rockets and the mediocre Charlotte mini-Jordans.  We played the Sixers and Heat, both solid playoff teams last year and probably this year too.  Washington played Chicago and Indiana, two teams that probably aren't making the playoffs this year.  Early returns, to be sure, but starting off looking very strong.

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401468177

Bob


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