After an enormous win in Sport 1 of the primary spherical in opposition to the Miami Warmth, the Celtics will try to go up 2-0 within the sequence as they host the Warmth for Sport 2. These two groups are very conversant in one another having met within the playoffs in 4 of the final 5 years. The Warmth lead the Celtics 4-2 all time in playoff sequence wins. They’ve performed in 2 of the final 3 Jap Convention finals and likewise within the 2020 Jap Convention Finals. They lead the Celtics 20-17 in playoff video games received.
Going into Sport 1, the Celtics had been off for every week whereas the Warmth had performed 2 video games after the season ended with the intention to simply make the playoffs and so they had performed on Friday earlier than Sunday’s matinee recreation in opposition to the Celtics. Each groups have had 2 days off since their final assembly on Sunday and so the Celtics received’t have an enormous relaxation benefit and the Warmth might be a bit extra rested than they had been coming into the primary recreation.
In Sport 1, the Celtics took 49 threes and made 22, which is a franchise playoff file. The Celtics had been first within the league, averaging 42.5 threes a recreation within the common season. The Warmth averaged 33.7 threes a recreation within the common season and took 37 in Sport 1, making simply 12. Erik Spoelstra has vowed to beat that disparity in made 3’s. If the Warmth can defend the perimeter higher, the Celtics might want to change up their technique and go to the basket if the threes cease falling for them. And, if the Warmth look to take extra 3’s this recreation, the Celtics want to extend their perimeter protection.
Many of the dialogue after Sport 1 was concerning the laborious foul that Caleb Martin dedicated on Jayson Tatum. Fortunately Jayson wasn’t severely damage, but it surely may have triggered severe damage. Each groups talked about this sequence being a struggle previous to Sport 1 and if there may be one factor that’s sure concerning the Miami Warmth, it’s that they’ll play laborious and attempt to muddy up the sequence. The Celtics need to be prepared for extra laborious fouls and never enable that kind of play to frustrate them and take them out of their recreation.
The Celtics must be prepared for the Warmth to come back out trying to be higher on this recreation. Spoelstra can have his gamers able to take the combat to the Celtics. The Celtics jumped out to an enormous lead proper from the start of Sport 1 and the Warmth will attempt to keep away from that on this recreation by being aggressive proper from the start. The Celtics must be prepared for his or her physicality and extra protection on the perimeter and so they could look to be extra bodily themselves. The query might be how a lot the referees enable and in the event that they name the sport a bit extra intently after the laborious foul by Martin in Sport 1.
Quotes from the Celtics present that they’re anticipating a bodily and aggressive Warmth workforce. Jaylen Brown expects a combat and expects the Celtics to reply in variety: “They’re going to be hungry. Determined. They’re going to come back out quick, much more aggressive. Making an attempt to show us over. Simply making an attempt to crash the glass laborious, be bodily – knocking us to the bottom. Simply making an attempt to win that physicality match any manner they’ll. That’s what I foresee. However we’ll be able to do the identical factor.”
The Celtics stay largely wholesome, though Jayson Tatum could also be a bit sore after the autumn he took after the foul from Caleb Martin. He’s not on the injured checklist so that’s good. Luke Kornet stays out for the Celtics with a calf damage. For the Warmth, Jimmy Butler is out with an MCL sprain and is prone to miss the remainder of the sequence. Terry Rozier is out with a neck sprain and is taken into account week to week. Josh Richardson is out after having shoulder surgical procedure.
Possible Celtics Starters
PG: Jrue Vacation
SG: Derrick White
SF: Jaylen Brown
PF: Jayson Tatum
C: Kristaps Porzingis
Celtics Reserves
Oshae Brissett
Sam Hauser
Al Horford
Svi Mykhailiuk
Payton Pritchard
Jordan Walsh
Jaden Springer
Xavier Tillman
Neemias Queta
2 Means Gamers
JD Davison
Drew Peterson
Accidents/Out
Luke Kornet (calf) out
Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla
Possible Warmth Starters
PG: Tyler Herro
SG: Caleb Martin
SF: Jaime Jaquez, Jr
PF: Nikola Jovic
C: Bam Adebayo
Warmth Reserves
Thomas Bryant
Haywood Highsmith
Kevin Love
Patty Mills
Duncan Robinson
Orlando Robinson
Delon Wright
Out/Accidents
Jimmy Butler (MCL) out
Josh Richardson (shoulder) out
Terry Rozier III (neck) out
Two Means Gamers
Jamal Cain
Cole Swider
Alondes Williams
Head Coach
Erik Spoelstra
Key Matchups
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Kristaps Porzingis
Photograph by Elsa/Getty Photos
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Bam Adebayo
Photograph by Michael Reaves/Getty Photos
Kristaps Porzingis vs Bam Adebayo
With Jimmy Butler out, the Warmth rely upon Adebayo to select up the slack and be their finest participant. In Sport 1, he completed with 24 factors, 6 rebounds, and three assists. He shot 55.6% from the sphere bu was 0-2 taking pictures threes. Porzingis completed with 18 factors, 4 rebounds, 1 help, 1 steal and a pair of blocks. He was 4-8 from past the arc. The Celtics will want one other sturdy recreation from him on this one.
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Jaylen Brown
Photograph by Stacy Revere/Getty Photos
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Jaime Jaquez, Jr
Photograph by Wealthy Storry/Getty Photos
Jaylen Brown vs Jaime Jaquez, Jr
As soon as once more, with Butler out, the Warmth predict extra from their rookie. He performed nicely in Sport 1, ending with 16 factors, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists. He shot 50% from the sphere however went 0-3 from past the arc. He shot 32.2% on threes in the course of the common season. Usually the Celtics discovered him to be a weak hyperlink within the protection.
Honorable Point out
Sam Hauser vs Delon Wright
Usually, I’d count on Herro to be key, however in Sport 1, between Jrue Vacation and Derrick White defending him, he was unable to get something going offensively and he’s a weak defender additionally. I count on extra of the identical on this recreation. Wright, nevertheless, got here off the bench and completed with 17 factors, 1 rebound, 3 assists and a pair of steals whereas taking pictures 85.7% from the sphere and going 5-5 from past the arc. Hauser was key for the Celtics, coming off the bench to hit 4-6 from 3.
Keys to the Sport
Protection – As soon as once more, protection is the most important key to profitable this recreation and each recreation. Protection turns into much more vital within the playoffs. The Celtics had been 2nd within the common season with a defensive score of 110.6. However, the Warmth had been additionally a great defensive workforce with a defensive score of 111.5, fifth within the league. The Celtics performed very nicely on the defensive finish for many of Sport 1 and might want to play powerful workforce protection as soon as once more on this recreation. The workforce that performs the hardest protection received Sport 1 and can seemingly get the win on this one additionally.
Rebound – As with protection, rebounding will at all times be a key to profitable. A lot of rebounding is effort and hustle and when the Celtics put out that additional effort to seize rebounds, it normally interprets to different areas of the sport as nicely. The Celtics had been 2nd with 46.3 rebounds per recreation within the common season whereas the Warmth had been twenty sixth with 42.3 rebounds per recreation. In Sport 1, the Celtics out-rebounded the Warmth 44-34 and 10-5 on offensive rebounds. The Celtics need to work more durable on the boards than the Warmth as soon as once more on this recreation and win the rebounding battle.
Be Aggressive – The Warmth will play laborious and might be aggressive and the Celtics must be much more aggressive and play even more durable than the Warmth. They need to be extra aggressive in going after unfastened balls, in grabbing rebounds, in defending, and in going to the basket. The Warmth are pleased with having a workforce of “canines” who hustle and scrap for all the pieces. The Celtics must “out-dpg” the Warmth and hustle and be aggressive for 48 minutes. They’ll win a whole lot of video games by taking part in more durable than their opponents and so they can lose a whole lot of video games by permitting their opponents to be the workforce that performs more durable.
Do Not Let Up – The Celtics want to come back out sturdy proper from the opening tip and never enable the Warmth to get comfy or to achieve any confidence. They should play laborious via out every quarter and never let their foot off the fuel. The Celtics had been up 91-59 on the Warmth going into the 4th quarter and so they had been up by as many as 34 factors at one time. They let up on their defensive effort within the 4th quarter and allowed the Warmth to come back to inside 14 factors. That can seemingly give them slightly confidence going into Sport 2 and so the Celtics must play all out for all 48 minutes with no let up.
Keep Centered – The Celtics have to remain centered and play the fitting manner as a workforce. The Warmth prefer to muddy up video games and get their opponents to lose their focus by giving laborious fouls and stepping into opponents’ heads as they did with the Caleb Martin foul and I can think about that they’ll double down on that on this recreation. The Celtics must keep centered on taking part in their recreation, on grabbing rebounds, on taking good pictures and on taking part in powerful protection. They’ll’t let the Warmth’s fashion of play frustrate them.
X-Components
Dwelling Courtroom – The Celtics fought all season to have the perfect file within the league and to have residence courtroom all through the playoffs. The Backyard must be loud and rowdy and may give the Celtics a lift. They solely misplaced 4 video games all season at residence and they should maintain that mindset all through the playoffs. Maintain residence courtroom. The Warmth can have distractions of journey and taking part in in entrance of a really hostile crowd and the Celtics must reap the benefits of that.
Teaching – Erik Spoelstra is believed by many to be the perfect coach within the league. He could be anticipated to provide you with a wrinkle or two to shock the Celtics and attempt to give the Warmth a bonus. He has coached 2 championship groups, has taken his groups to six finals, and his groups have received 6 Jap Convention Championships. He’ll come out on this recreation with a brand new recreation plan and could be anticipated to alter issues up a bit for Sport 2 and Joe Mazzulla must be able to counter no matter Spoelstra comes up with. It’s simply Joe Mazzulla’s 2nd season as a head coach, however he has carried out an excellent job this season and hopefully can counter no matter surprises Spoelstra has in retailer for him.
Officiating -Officiating is at all times an x-factor in each recreation. Each crew officiates in a different way. Some name it tight, others allow them to play. After Martin’s laborious foul and all that was fabricated from it, the officers could also be watching extra intently and cease any shenanigans earlier than they go too far. We noticed within the Knicks/76eers recreation that the refs missed 2 large calls in opposition to the Knicks, permitting them to get the sport profitable shot. The Celtics want to regulate to how the refs are calling the sport and never enable dangerous calls or no calls to remove their focus from taking part in the sport. Additionally they must ensure that they play laborious all through the sport in order to not enable the sport to come back all the way down to a closing shot for both workforce.
Official Report
Crew Chief – David Guthrie
Referee – Sean Wright
Umpire – JB DeRosa
Althernate – Scott Twardoski
There was a whole lot of discuss concerning the officiating in a number of the sequence up to now. After the final recreation between the Lakers and Nuggets, LeBron James was seen arguing with an official proper after the sport and has been very vocal about that crew’s shortcomings as he considered them. Within the final recreation between the Knicks and the 76ers, the refs missed 4 key calls within the closing 2 minutes that seemingly modified the result.
There are 3 veteran officers for this recreation. The Celtics are 8-2 of their final 10 video games officiated by David Guthrie, together with 3 wins in opposition to Miami. The Warmth are 3-7 of their final 10 video games with Guthrie. Dwelling groups are 22-32 this season with Guthrie as a referee.
The Celtics are 10-0 of their final 10 video games with Sean Wright as an official. The Warmth are 5-5 with Wright. Dwelling groups are 35-32 this season with Wright officiating. The Celtics are 6-4 of their final 10 video games with JB DeRosa officiating. The Warmth are 8-2 with DeRosa. Dwelling groups are 35-28 this season with DeRosa as an official.