SUMMARY
- The Boston Celtics are coming off a dominant win against the Miami Heat in Game 1.
- Jrue Holiday believes there's no way the Heat restricts them from scoring points, even if the opposition limits their three-point shooting.
The Boston Celtics had an exceptional opening to the first-round series versus the Miami Heat. Obviously, Miami was least favored to win the game as they were down their best playoff performer, Jimmy Butler. Unfortunately, the 6x NBA All-Star will be out of the rest of the series and possibly the playoffs if they advance further. And as expected, the Celtics walked away with an overwhelming victory.
TONIGHT ☘️ Round 1 Game 2
⏰ 7:00 PM
🆚 @MiamiHEAT
📍 @tdgarden
📺 @NBCSBoston & @NBAonTNT
🎙️ @rock929ROCKS & @SIRIUSXM
Small Business of the Game: @TheExodusBooth #DifferentHere pic.twitter.com/k60JdDBKyb— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 24, 2024
Boston brought their best shooting form coming into Game 1 while being led by Jayson Tatum. Their three-point shooting was a major factor that brought them success. Seven players had made two or more perimeter field goals. Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday, and Sam Hauser made 4 three-pointers during the game. The Celtics broke the franchise record for most three-pointers made in a single playoff game with 22 on 49 attempts.
Jrue Holiday believes the Celtics can excel even without their perimeter shooting
During the Celtics’ team practice ahead of Game 2, Jrue Holiday claimed the Heat may come out in desperation and play tighter than they did in Game 1. He said, “It’s going to be chippy. They play desperate. It’s always going to be a fight.” He also added that the Celtics are balanced enough on offense that even losing their three-point shot wouldn’t make a difference.
He added, “I think the talent we have on this team, we’re not just a three-point shooting team. A lot of players to get into the paint, a lot of players to finish at the basket. We have mid-range players. But yeah, I think we do a little bit of everything. On any given night, we can go off on any facet of the game. So they try to take away the three, I think we have counters for that.”
Boston leads the league in points and points differential while ranking third in field goal percentage in the playoffs. They also lead the league in three-point shooting in the post-season averaging 44.9% on 49 attempts per game. Miami ranks fifth in field goal percentage while barely touching the top ten in three-point shooting.
Jaylen Brown wants the Celtics to play like they’re losing the series
Being up a game is certainly a good position to be in and can be a confidence booster for the Celtics. However, Jaylen Brown believes the Celtics shouldn’t get too comfortable being up while playing against the Heat. Especially, since the Heat have defeated them in the playoffs before, even last season during the Eastern Conference Finals.
He said, “We’ve got to come out with the same mentality almost like we’re down one [game] instead of [being] up. We got to come ready to play, ready to fight ’cause we can’t expect them to come out and do nothing less.” Game 2 is up next and the Celtics are looking forward to extending their lead by two games to nil.
Miami has added Nikola Jovic to the injury report due to back discomfort/spams. Boston will be continuing without Luke Kornet due to a calf injury. He is expected to return by May 3. Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier will remain out for the foreseeable future.