Jaylen Brown (17 points on 7-18 shooting, 6 turnovers) and Jayson Tatum (20 points on 5-14 shooting) didn’t have their usual dominant performances in Boston’s blowout win over Miami. It didn’t matter.
For the second consecutive game in Miami, the Celtics led by double-digits for most of the night – this time pushing their lead to as much as 28 points – en route to a 102-88 victory.
In turn, the Celtics go back to Boston with a commanding 3-1 series lead over the Heat, and the opportunity to close things out in front of the TD Garden crowd on Wednesday night.
That is despite the fact that both of the team’s All NBA talents had forgettable offensive performances; Jaylen Brown finished with 17 points on 7-18 shooting with 6 turnovers, while Jayson Tatum had 20 points on 5-14 shooting.
For Joe Mazzulla, that’s a welcome sign, indicative of the team’s offensive well-roundedness, and his stars willingness to defer to others who have the hot hand.
“There’s nights where they have to be who they are, and there’s nights where they’ve got to do other stuff,” Mazzulla said of his two All-Stars.
All year, he’s stressed the importance of his stars doing the little things regardless of whether shots were falling. In this one, Jaylen Brown was a +17 despite struggling to find his footing on offense. Jayson Tatum grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds, stepping up on the glass in the absence of Kristaps Porzingis, who exited the game in the first half with a leg injury.
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Michael Laughlin-USA TODAY Sports
“Both of them, throughout the game, their defense was at a high level, regardless of how it was going for them,” Mazzulla said.
The Celtics’ offense thrived in large part thanks to Derrick White, who exploded for a playoff career-high of 38 points on 15 of 26 shooting. White kept the game out of reach, hitting step-back threes (8 of 15 from downtown) and throwing down consecutive thunderous dunks.
“I’m thankful,” White said. “I’m happy. I could score zero points and we win, so that’s really what’s important.” He credited his teammates for continuing to find him and for instilling an unwavering confidence within himself.
Tatum could have forced up more shots, but he was happy to have Derrick White attempt 12 field goals more than him.
“It’s just great to be on a team like this, that’s just as deep and talented on both ends of the floor, that any on any given night can just have a guy like that erupt when it’s the playoffs,” Tatum said.
Mazzulla also shouted out Horford — who played 34 minutes and most of the second half — for his defensive efforts.
“I thought everybody just stepped it up,” Mazzulla said. “I thought Al was tremendous — only took five shots, but his defense, his physicality…”
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Michael Laughlin-USA TODAY Sports
All in all, the Celtics played a game that was far from perfect. They shot just 41.9% from the field. They made little mistakes and let the Heat hang on for too long, letting a 29-point lead slip to 13 midway through the fourth. Execution left a little to be desired, Mazzulla said.
But for the second consecutive game, they held the Heat to under 90 points. And in Game 4, Miami shot just 40.7% overall and 27.3% from three. While in Game 2, the Heat exploded for a franchise-best 22 three-pointers, in this one, they were held to just 9. Some of that disparity is shooting variance, but the Celtics also played with a notably higher level of intensity in both road games.
“Listen, our physicality and purpose was great,” Mazzulla said. “And we just got to execute a little bit better. But I thought, in the first half, our physicality and our activity – defensively – made up for some of the mistakes that we made. I think that’s important.”
It’s not a bad sign when your two best players’ shots aren’t falling and execution is imperfect — and you still dominate. The story of this one will be Kristaps Porzingis’s calf injury and Derrick White’s offensive masterpiece. But what also stands out is the ability of this Celtics team to win even when shots aren’t falling, even when their stars are enduring subpar nights.
They’ve now done it three times. To achieve, the ultimate goal, they’ll have to do it 13 more.
“We did what we had to do,” Mazzulla said. “And now we got to go do it again.”
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