Even after easily their best performance of the conference finals on Friday, a 121-108 victory over the Miami Heat in Game 5 that trimmed the series deficit to 3-2, the Boston Celtics have some reason for frustration.
Not at the gameplay, exactly. The Celtics were excellent on both ends, and they punished Miami’s zone in a way that will be concerning for Erik Spoelstra when he sits down to watch film Saturday.
Rather, as the Celtics wake up and prep for another must-win game on Sunday, they may be wondering -- in the back of their minds -- why they didn’t play like this before.
“Out of their last four halves, our best one was our last one,” Brad Stevens said. “But I thought the first half felt similar to me.”
After falling behind by double digits in the first quarter and after trailing by seven at halftime, the Celtics exploded in the third. Jayson Tatum scored 17 of Boston’s 41 points. Jaylen Brown dropped 12 in the fourth and helped the Celtics hold on for a double-digit win.
This was always possible. Miami’s offense struggled -- Duncan Robinson, Goran Dragic and Jae Crowder aren’t likely to shoot a combined 4-for-25 (16 percent) from three again -- but in the second half, Boston very abruptly played like the team that demolished opponents during the seeding games.
The change was almost startling. The ball whipped around the court, finding open shooters and gaps in Miami’s zone. When the Heat went back to man defense, the Celtics hunted Robinson and Tyler Herro mercilessly and to great effect. Perhaps equally important: Boston was smart with the ball. After handing Miami the ball 19 times in Game 4, the Celtics coughed it up just 11 times in Game 5.
Something flipped between quarters two and three. The Celtics said it wasn’t effort.
“We just knew in the first half that we were playing with a lot of energy, but it was kind of all over the place," Jaylen Brown said. “And we just had to dial it in. We had the right mindset from the beginning of the game, but it was a little bit all over the place. Once we settled in a little bit and kept that same intensity, it worked out for us.”
It certainly did. In the series as a whole, the Celtics have had an offensive rating off 114.5 and a defensive rating of 112.3, a total of 2.2 overall. That’s far below their playoff net rating (6.4). In Friday’s game, the Celtics were +10.6.
The reasons why were obvious. Rather than passing around the perimeter several times before hoisting a tough three, the Celtics drove aggressively. In the paint, they were decisive -- Daniel Theis, Kemba Walker and Gordon Hayward all knocked down mid-range jumpers. When the defense collapsed inward, the Celtics sprayed out to shooters (Marcus Smart, who had another tough shooting night, was particularly effective at this).
The glass-half-empty take for the Celtics is that Miami let go of the rope a bit, and all the Heat need to do is win one more game to end the series. A tough night for Tatum, or a fiery hot one for Miami’s shooters, could end Boston’s season. That’s what happens when you leave yourself absolutely no margin for error.
The glass-half-full take is that Boston is suddenly the aggressor, while Miami is suddenly on its heels. Hitting singles and playing smart basketball against a zone worked wonders, just like Stevens and any number of commentators and media kept suggesting. The most frustrating thing for the Celtics, especially if they slip sometime in the next two games, is that this formula always existed: Drive the ball first (or pass it into the paint) then kick it out to shooters if and when Miami reacts to the paint touch.
“I think that’s the key, just being aggressive,” Brown said of Boston’s paint touches. "Miami is really good at making it seem like it’s not open, have a lot of guys who have length, Crowder, Butler, even Robinson has length. You just got to do it anyway, play hard, with intensity.
“We can cover for our mistakes if we play hard enough.”
Brown, perhaps, embodied that mindset more than anyone. He took 23 shots overall and went 4-for-10 from deep, but his 3-point attempts were mostly a result of the efficient drive-and-kick action Boston needed. When he braved the thicket of long arms Miami uses to discourage drivers, he was a team-high 7-for-9 in the restricted area.
Driving doesn’t always look easy. Sometimes, you just have to do it anyway.
Tatum told Rachel Nichols he hasn’t slept well over the last few days.
“I mean, we were down 3-1,” Tatum said. “Frustrated. Give them credit, they’ve been playing well, they deserved to be up 3-1. It was frustrating. Not supposed to be feeling good about being down 3-1. I was just really anxious to play, get back out there, just give myself a chance.”
To be clear, late is much better than never. Winning two games in a row is much more palatable than three, especially when winning the first of three exposed some things the Celtics can exploit going forward.
Brown was asked about trying to overcome a 3-1 deficit. You can probably guess his answer. It was the correct one.
“We’re just trying to take it one game at a time,” Brown said. "I think that’s our focus, that’s our emphasis. We’ll see what happens at the end. When we play hard, play with each other, fight, we’ll see what the results come out to be.
“But I think that’s our focus, just one game at a time.”
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