Post Game - Celtics vs. Heat - Friday, October 27 (W)

Celtics-Heat takeaways: Derrick White stars on both ends in gritty win

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/celtics-heat-takeaways-derrick-white-022757207.html

Darren Hartwell
Fri, October 27, 2023 at 10:27 PM EDT·4 min read

Celtics-Heat takeaways: Derrick White stars on both ends in gritty win originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

BOSTON -- The Celtics-Heat rivalry has picked up right where it left off.

In their first meeting since Game 7 of the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals, Boston and Miami duked out a seesaw affair at TD Garden, with the Celtics pulling away late to secure a 119-111 win in their 2023-24 home opener.

All five Celtics starters reached double figures in a game that featured six tie scores and six lead changes. Derrick White (game-high 28 points), Jaylen Brown (27) and Jayson Tatum (22) each passed the 20-point mark, while Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday chipped in 17 apiece. Miami's Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo combined for 55 points (28 and 27, respectively), but the Celtics limited the Heat role players enough to improve to 2-0 on the young season.

The Celtics will be back in action Monday night in Washington against the Wizards. First, let's get to our takeaways from Friday's nail-biter at the Garden.

Derrick White does it all

White has a knack for making clutch plays against Miami.

The hero of Game 6 of the 2023 East Finals stepped up again Friday night, carrying the scoring load for Boston and going on a personal 8-0 run early in the fourth quarter to help the Celtics take a six-point lead. He hit three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter alone to score 14 of Boston's 32 fourth-quarter points and help seal the victory.



White also made an impact defensively with two incredible chase-down blocks of Jimmy Butler -- one in the first quarter and another in the fourth with the game in the balance.



White's final stat line: 28 points, six rebounds, three assists, one steal and three blocks. Not bad for a guy who didn't make ESPN's Top 100 players list.

Jaylen Brown gets redemption

After Brown's rough Game 1 against the New York Knicks, Tatum was confident his All-Star teammate would turn things around Friday night. He was right.

Brown's night wasn't perfect, as he started 1-for-5 from the floor and committed a team-high four turnovers. But the eighth-year wing looked much more aggressive in this one, attacking the basket to score 18 of his 27 points inside the arc. He was also active defensively and racked up a team-high three steals, including this swipe of an inbound pass near the end of the first half:



Brown stepped up when it counted, as well, scoring 12 points in the fourth quarter to help Boston pull away for the victory.



Brissett provides much-needed boost

The Celtics looked a bit sluggish early in the first quarter. Oshae Brissett changed that in a hurry.

The backup wing was a spark plug off the bench in his first game action for the Celtics, immediately grabbing a pair of offensive rebounds as part of a 10-0 run in the first quarter that helped erase an early 13-point Heat lead. His first bucket in a C's uniform was an emphatic slam off a nice baseline cut.



Brissett isn't much of an offensive threat, but his hustle on both ends of the floor was exactly what the Celtics needed against a hard-playing Heat team. Whenever the energy level of Boston's top six is lagging, expect Joe Mazzulla to inject Brissett into the lineup for an added spark, similar to what Aaron Nesmith provided the C's during his two seasons in Boston.

Bench production still lacking

Other than Brissett's hustle plays, the Celtics didn't get much outside their starting five for the second straight game.

Boston's reserve players combined for just eight points on 3 of 11 shooting. Al Horford was 0 for 6 in 25 minutes of play, while Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser (three points each) provided the only bench scoring outside Brissett's dunk.

Miami's bench wasn't exactly stellar (20 total points), but Duncan Robinson and Dru Smith still contributed nine points apiece to help keep the game close when the Heat starters were sidelined.

The Celtics may have an elite top five -- the group combined for a whopping 111 points Friday night -- but they'll need much more out of their reserves going forward to limit the wear and tear on their starters.

Celtics burn Heat in home opener, Boston grabs 119-111 victory over Miami

Cameron Tabatabaie

Fri, October 27, 2023 at 10:26 PM EDT·5 min read



The Boston Celtics defeated the Miami Heat Friday night, grabbing a 119-111 victory. This was the first Celtics regular season home game for newcomers Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis. The duo combined for 34 points and 19 rebounds on the evening, helping Boston secure a win.

Friday was also Boston’s first home game of the year, and a rematch of a 2023 Eastern Conference Finals that saw Boston fall in seven games to the Heat, missing out on a chance to raise an 18th banner. Tonight, many of the same themes from last spring emerged. Boston was often careless with the ball, coughing up 15 turnovers on the night. And on the other side of the action, Miami was patient and efficient on offense for much of the night, although this wanned as Boston tightened the clamps down the stretch.

Indeed, with the game on the line, Boston dug deep. The Celtics outscored the Heat 32-23 in the fourth, securing a gutsy win in the process. Let’s take a closer look at what went down during Boston’s xx at home against Miami Friday evening.

Before the game

Prior to the game, the Celtics held a moment of silence to honor the victims of the mass shooting that left at least 18 people dead in Lewiston, Maine this week. The PA address before tip extended thoughts and prayers to the Lewiston community and the entire state of Maine.



The team also issued a press release before the game, saying “Our hearts ache as we reckon with the devastating shootings in Lewiston. We mourn with everyone in our Maine family experiencing the agonizing loss of this tragedy.”

The Maine Celtics have been a G-League affiliate for Boston since 2009, and on Friday night Celtics players wore Maine Celtics warmups. The team’s game jerseys featured a black decal that said “Maine.”

Boston's offense

Boston’s has the chance to be a very special offense with this roster this year, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be growing pains especially early in the season. Old habits die hard, as they say, and the home team had 9 turnovers in the first half alone.

Hustle plays kept the Celtics afloat when things were a little clunky scoring the ball. In stretches, though, Boston played very beautiful offense, especially to close the first half and down the stretch in the fourth.

In total, Boston logged 20 assists, including 7 dimes from Holiday. The Celtics also ended the game shooting 41.7% from 3 as a team. It was a bit streaky, but the home team’s scoring effort was enough to overcome a stingy Heat defense.

Boston's defense

Tatum served as the home team’s starting power forward, meaning Boston sacrificed size for speed in the frontcourt. Miami made a point to stress this trade-off early, attacking inside often. This often left Porzingis on an island, something Bam Adebyao and the Heat were able to exploit, and Porzingis fouled out with over 3 minutes to play in regulation.

Apropos of this dynamic, Boston was effective down low on both ends. The Celtics logged 55 rebounds, including and 16 offensive board. Porzingis may have been over-extended on defense, the rest of the team dictated the terms of engagement on the glass.

Boston was also quite handsy on defense overall, and this physical approach was quite effective. Miami had stretches where they shot the ball very well, but that was largely despite a strong showing from the Celtics.

Final thoughts

It’s important to not overreact to action in October. Perhaps tonight helps avenge a frustrating postseason exit last year, but this Celtics team has bigger goals in mind.

All the same, it was exciting to see basketball return to the TD Garden. Paul Pierce was in attendance, beckoning the crowd to a roar during a key stretch in the fourth quarter, and the buzz in the building was steady all evening long.

Still, for Celtics fans, this is undoubtably a frustrating outcome. Boston will need to wait until January 25 for a game down in Miami to exact revenge, to say nothing of the postseason.

Capitalizing on that home cooking will have to wait for Boston, however. The Celtics play four of their next five games away from home, including a matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers on the road on November 8.

Finally finished with the recording.

Liked the flow of Celts offense. Yes, there were too many turnovers. The new is group is not completely familiar with each other and is trying to play with pace. Hopefully this aspect will get better with more familiarity.

Although some offensive rebounds that they gave up were frustrating, the Celts held their own on the boards.

Will continue to look for better offensive flow and SOME bench to emerge. PPP just looks too small and ineffective out there.

I didn't like the way the Heat came out after the tipoff and after halftime and dominated us with more energy and our sloppiness.  There's no excuse for lack of energy, especially against a rival.  

It was a game of runs, which make me nervous, but we finished quarters quite well and that's how you win Championships.  It was 26-18 Miami with 3 left in the first and we went on a 8-2 run to end up down 3.  It was 51-49 Boston with 3 minutes left in the 2nd and we went on a 4-1 mini-run to finish out the 2nd (obviously there wasn't a lot of scoring by either team in those 3 minutes).  It was 81-80 Miami with 3 minutes left in the 3rd and we held that difference for the rest of the quarter.  It was a good quarter for Miami, let's give them credit.  In the 4th we were up 5 @ 109-104 with 3 left and went on a 10-6 run to win by a healthy 9 points (minimum 3 possessions).  In the end, we won the last 3 minutes of 3 quarters and tied the 4th.  I REALLY like that.  Now all we have to do is figure out how not to struggle in the first 9 minutes of the quarters.

What a game by Derrick on both ends.  Wow.  8 points at the half.  Solid offensively, I would take 16ppg from Derrick, but Tyler Herro went going off on him.  Went into halftime with Herro with 14 points on 6-12.  Came out for the 3rd and scored 6 points while "limiting" Herro to 9 (23 points on 9-15) and then clamped down on him in the 4th while going nuts himself.  A 14 point 4th quarter for Derrick, Herro with only 5 point, and he went 1-5 in the 4th to get them.  He also had 6 rebounds, 3 offensive, and 3 blocks.  All 3 of those blocks were absolute mind-blowing blocks on Jimmy Butler at the rim, two on breakaways (:18 of the highlight film and 3:20) and the 3rd was a block at the rim, straight up, against Jimmy trying to dunk (1:30 of the film).   Jimmy Butler went 3-11 on the night. He would have been 6-11 and this would have been a nailbiter, if not for Derrick White's defense. White with 28 points on 9-15, 5-7 from 3, 3 offensive rebounds, 3 blocks.  Now that's a two-way boxscore.

 


Our lack of a bench resulted in Jayson Tatum playing 41 minutes.  That cannot be an ongoing thing.  I'm not blaming Joe for playing him that much, we want to win and the bench isn't giving us the production that let him sit Jayson for long.  Oshae came in with energy, which was much appreciated since they were out Energy Bunny-ing us, but we need more.  Oshae with 5 rebounds in 14 minutes, 3 offensive.  I especially liked his off-the-ball cuts that got him dunks (one was blocked, but he was at the rim) and my beloved offensive rebounds.  Pritchard and Hauser with unimpressive outings again, although I did like Sam's defense.  Not flashy, but he's usually well-positioned.

Bam completely outplayed Z.  Doris Burke was saying how Joe was talking up Porzingis' lateral movement and no sooner do those words come out of her mouth than Bam just blows past Z on the dribble.  I don't want to make too much of a single game, but his mobility was really highlighted when he went up against one of the league's most mobile centers.  He still ended up with 17 and 9 in 30 minutes.  That's not too bad, but we were very much in trouble when he fouled out with 3:18 left.  In the end we won those last 3:18, without our starting center, 10-9.

Jimmy Butler 3-11.  Can't wait to read the Comments From The Other Side stuff later today when the Heat fans claim that Jimmy's washed up, until the next game where he singlhandedly saves their butts.  Then he'll be back at god status again.

Jrue Holiday with 17 points on an efficient 7-13, 10 rebounds, 7 assists with only 1 turnover and a block (1:40 of the film.  Blocking Vasquez' dunk on a breakaway at the rim).  His running mate White got the accolades but this is pretty damn good too.  We have the best back court in the NBA.  They both can score, they are excellent rebounders and elite defenders.   This is how they were billed coming into the season and they're living up to their billing.  I, like Cowens, love bullyball and both of our starting back court players are great at it.




Jaylen started off very weak.  He was 2-6 after 1.  He started to get it going in the 2nd going 3-4.  Then he went 1-5 in our weak 3rd but 5-7 for 14 points in the 4th.  Seeing a pattern?  As Jaylen went so too went the game.  A weak 1st (down 11 at one point), a strong 2nd (end up 5), a weak 3rd (lose the lead) and then overpower them in the 4th.  4 turnovers.  Still a problem with him.  It' the one area of his game that has not gotten better year-over-year.




Horford 0-6, but 10 boards.  

We were 13-19 from the line, they were 19-23.  I don't mind the 4 ftas advantage they had, I don't like that we only shot 68% on our opportunities.  We shoot even 15-19, which is 78%, and this game isn't even close.

Turnovers appear to be close, 15-12, but we gave up 16 points on our 15 turnovers while the Heat only gave up 6 on their 12.  Live turnovers are killers.

52-36 domination in the paint.  Take away Bam and they got no power inside.  What they have is great ball movement and shooting.  They shot 49% from 3 with way too many of them wide open, step into them 3s.


https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401584708


Bob

Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
yesterday
Derrick White on his block contest with Jrue Holiday: "During the game he was like we’re gonna see who has more blocks at the end of the year. I told him that it was crazy that his UCLA men tried to dunk on him."


Boston Celtics @celtics
yesterday
Jayson Tatum on the spark Oshae Brissett provided toward the end of the first quarter: “He was the sole reason why we got back into the game.”


Bob


.

Joe has gotten a much better end of game plan and we have much more diversified options now too. We don’t have to do the Tatum iso, so other teams won’t know how to defend, load up on us. It’s still so early, so with every starting player able to score efficiently at all 3 levels, we will be a handful at crunch time. Good workman like game from Al, his shot/offense was way off, but his defense and rebounding were still essential. I love the way Jaylen responded in 4th and ofcourse what more can you say about D White, except we didn’t use him enough last year.

The NOT 100 top player in the NBA smoked the Heat at both ends of the court!

This was an impressive win.  Winning games, when the outcome is in doubt, establishes an identity for this team that they have no quit in them.  Against the Knicks, Tatum and Porzingis lead us against the Knicks.  Last night it was Derrick White and Jaylen Brown.  With the wealth of talent on this team on any given night we have 5 players that can put up big offensive numbers and play hard nose defense.

Everything is not hunky-dorry becaue in both games the Celtics did not defend those high screens and we are not getting impactful contributions from our shooters off the bench.

With respect to those high screens, in both the Knicks and Heat games, Quickley and Herro were the primary reasons why the games were close.   The reason we are not able to get to them is because the defender is getting screened and we are staying in a drop coverage.  These guys are coming off screens with wide open looks.  There is no way to get to them in that coverage.  Maybe the Celtics should adjust how they defend those high screens by putting a non-center on the screening center and then switching our quicker non-center on to the ball handler that comes over the top of the screen.  Our big can stay in drop coverage to defend the rim.  Basically you switch 1-4 on high screens and keep our rim protector in drop coverage.

If the Celtics are going to become a complete team, the rotation has to be more productive.

CJ went to Brissett and he gave us exactly what we needed.  Lamar Stevens is another player who can defend at a high level as well. Svi is a shooter.

Shooters off the bench are very important provided that they are consistently making shots.  If they cannot fill that role then changes will need to be made.  We have a lot of guard/wing options off the bench.

I am confident that CJ will adjust accordingly.  Afterall, we cannot expect JT to play 41 minutes a game.

This was a very exhilarating game to watch.   the Celtics have the makings of a great team.

Hi,
It was an ugly win. But a win. From psychological standpoint very important considering who was the opponent.
Also I'd like to comment on this. Second game we were trailing in the second half, but managed to get ahead and keep the lead until the final buzzer.
IMO, it's an improvement over the last year.

2 down, 80 to go.

AK

Just a few observations.

Agree with Dboss, that we cannot play JT 41 minutes a game. His minutes need to be capped around 35-38. He has to be fresh for the playoffs.

The starters are only going to get better as they get more familiar with each other. That has to be a scary thought for the rest of the league.

The Heat are a pesky bunch. They set good screens and take good shots and generally play hard. The Heat must have hit at least 5 contested threes or the game wouldn't have been that close.

The bench is a concern. Brissett added some nice energy last night. I am confident Prit will be effective as the season progresses. They do isolate him on defense, but I think the team can help him out. His speed and shooting is real and can be valuable. Sam is going to have to play better or Svi needs to get an opportunity.

Overall a good W, always nice to beat Pat Riley.

Whether you win by 30 or 8, it still counts as a W. After two games, there are only 8 teams left that can go 82-0.

Game ball to DW. Easy. What a blessing from Pop. I don't know where he lands on the starting 5 option chart but 4th at best and probably 5th would be my guess. And to have him get hot like that at that time...I say, "Come on, man!!" He's got to be the sleeper. Jrue stepped his game up as well. Driving to the cup dang near every time. With that, there is no weak link and teams simple can't double anyone without paying a huge price.

MIA just couldn't miss from outside. I'm surprised we didn't see one zone defense from MIA, our playoff nemesis and eventual demise. You never know what Coach Spoelstra has going on up there in his brain. Tonight it was let Herro shoot us to victory from 3-ville.

I texted my son at Arkansas to say I almost hate the Heat as much as I do the Lakers. While the chasm on the Hate Scale between the Lakers and anyone else in the league is as wide as the Grand Canyon still, MIA keeps inching closer. I don't want to say they have our number just yet, but they do get under your/own skin.

Now the the bench. I think we are going to have to approach "the bench" differently this time. There are simply not many opportunities to score and if you don't come out ala Eddie House or like a Vinnie Johnson, the rock ain't gonna find you. Doogie maybe touched the ball a handful of times. He hit one, but that was it. Then you had the DW 4th Quarter Show and rightfully the ball deferred to him until he missed. That's how the bench is going to have to do it. You have to come in hot. We may not see the traditional bench with this loaded team of scorers once they get everything figured out. This was the point Doc was trying to make in G1. You look at the scorecard at the end of the game and yeah the bench sucks. But they are helping set these guys up as well. It's like do you want a basket or an assist? One guy can't do both at the same time. Both are worth exactly the same.

This team has the chance to be very special. The bench will get some time to play and gel a lot together when we play the bottom dwellers and the lead is 30+ point going into the 2nd half or 4th quarter. I noticed Joe used a very limited 9-man rotation last night. I think he was thinking like the rest of us in that we weren't going to lose this game again. ESPN was certainly trying to bring the G7 curse back all night pointing it out 437 times at least by my calculations.

Anyway, PHI @ TOR today and LAL @ SAC Sunday are the only real lookers for the weekend as we are off until @ WAS Monday and at home vs. IND.

Great, great games all around for the first week. NBA set it up very well. The next couple of weeks will begin the separation of the men from the boys, weeding out the pretenders (hopefully this will include the Lakers), reality setting in, etc. We have a chance to be VERY dangerous.

db

Nice to grab a W against Miami given how last season ended.

Really like our backcourt. Holiday and White are strong on both ends.

Only 2 games in but my guess is Mazzulla is going to give minutes to different bench players each game to get a feel for what he has. We need a couple more bench players, specifically a big and a wing, to show they can be relied on consistently.

Certainly a solid and quickly established first 7 rotation.