Last Updated on June 22, 2024 by Mathew Diekhake
Live recap of Miami Heat v Boston Celtics – Apr 21, 2024
Eery feeling inside the TD Garden if you’re a Heat fan. If we lose this one, it’s OK. We’ll regroup for game 2 and in particular game 3. If we don’t get blown out in game 1, it will be a win. They’ll know that this series isn’t over yet. And if we can wear them down…great.
Our best hope for a win today is a big day from Duncan Robinson. Tyler Herro needing to play well is a given. This is a deep Celtics team. I don’t know what Shaq is on about. Celtics will be very strong in the playoffs.
Strong start by the Celtics who are on a 7-0 run. Eric Spoelstra has made a huge mistake putting Jaquez Jr. on Jalen Brown. There’s no day of the year that matchup makes any sense. Jaquez Jr. can’t stay in front of Brown.
Jalen Brown has started with 5 quick points. The Heat have not done anything on offense apart from trying to generate something off basic pick and rolls. All shots so far have been prayers.
The Celtics looked better in the 1st qtr. However, the Heat have done the right thing: stayed confident and kept their energy high. The Heat are playing the right kind of basketball: not overthinking it, not hesitating and just playing as best they can no matter what happens.
The Heat need Herro to look like a number 1 on offense. He hasn’t so far. Also, Duncan Robinson hasn’t stepped onto the court yet and the Heat have used most if not all of their bench.
At one stage during the 1st qtr, Adebayo tried to play all 5 positions on offense, including driving the ball as though as was T-Mac. I like Adebayo, but that’s not going to work.
Duncan Robinson checked in at the same time as Kevin Love. By this stage, the Celtics had well and truly gone to their bench. Good coaching by Spoelstra, as it allowed the Heat to go to Love and Robinson to pick up some easy points. Jaquez Jr. has played very heavy minutes. I’m not sure I like that from Jaquez Jr. He doesn’t have a body that’s built for endurance. He can be brave, but he’s tired. And if he tires, his game will suffer because he needs fresh legs to hit his shots. 3 players who are built for heavy minutes are Highsmith, Herro, and Wright. I would prefer seeing them play heavy minutes because their shots will still go in no matter how long they play.
Herro has been beyond disappointing so far. It’s nearly halftime.
Halftime: 45-60. Heat down by 15. The Heat have been outplayed so far. But they have played hard and have done Heat fans proud in that regard. Herro didn’t shoot the ball well in the first half. Can he turn it around in the second?
Kristaps Porzingis has shot very well tonight. The Heat are down by 20. Nearly at the end of the third qtr.
Tyler Herro unfortunately has been as disappointing in the second half as he was in the first. I’ve hardly noticed him on the court in the third qtr. He remains with 5 points.
It’s now a 32-point ball game with 31 seconds to go in the third. Timeout Spoelstra. He’ll draw up a 2-for-1 to try to get it back under 30.
I stand corrected. The Heat did not even try a 2-for-1. They were happy with getting 2 points and the lead back to 30. The Celtics scored easily and got it back to 32. Start of the fourth coming up next.
Delon Wright has been shooting very well in the second half. He has the Heat looking respectable. I said at the start of the game that he will continue to shoot well because he has a body built for endurance unlike Jaquez Jr.
Delon Wright has 17 points and is 5 of 5 from beyond the arc. Great game from Wright all things considered. He stood up when no one else did and when the Heat were down big.
Tyler Herro couldn’t even play with any maturity or wisdom in the last 60 seconds when the game was over. He’s going to have to do a lot more to impress me, let me tell you.
Jayson Tatum bounced off of Calib Martin and hit the hardwood hard. That’s the kind of bruised body we are looking for to help us get back into this series. Tatum pretended he was fine. He can’t be…Let’s see how he looks in game 2. Nothing malicious on Martin’s part.