Fencer reregistered wrote:smith2373 wrote:The_Ghost_of_JB wrote:I didn't think Boston was going to sweep but I also didn't expect them to split at home to a play in team with 2 starters missing.
I feel like Boston never took this game seriously which has been an issue all year when they play teams that are missing guys and are worse than them.
Boston simply should not be dropping home games already to an undermanned 8th seed team especially with they themselves are completely healthy. Bostons home record in the playoffs is legit issue and last nights loss should be a bit concerning.
Based on the postgame comments it seems like the entire gameplan was to force the Heat to beat them from 3, and once the Heat actually started doing that, they had no plan B or adjustment. It’s like they said “Well these guys aren’t supposed to be good shooters so they’ll cool off” and it never happened
The fact that Joe and the players seem to think there was nothing wrong with their 3pt defense is deeply concerning. 37 wide open 3s in one game is nuts
I'm generally a Mazzulla supporter, but this game is evidence for his critics.
If your gameplan fails for 2 quarters, make some changes to it at halftime. If not before.
I'm pretty sure he didn't tell his players to just stand there with their hands down, give a big cushion of space so that Miami had open looks from 3.
To just put the loss squarely on Mazzulla is unfair, imo.
All of these things contributed to the loss:
-Miami having historically good shooting variance
-That historically good shooting (while partly was just Miami making shots and Boston being unlucky) was also partly due to poor defensive execution by the Celtics players. (keyword being Celtics players here, not Celtics coach.) The players were the ones who were slow to close out on shooters and didn't move as quick or put in the necessary effort to contest shots
-Bam getting away with a million illegal screens..many of them resulted in open 3's for the Heat
-Stagnant offense for Boston. sure we can maybe attribute some of that to Mazzulla, but some of it was just really good D by Miami, good defensive gameplan by Spo..and also just Boston making mistakes like Jrue throwing the ball out of bound at the end of the 1st half..a couple other unforced turnovers, missed FTs by JB, poor overall offensive performance by KP, etc.
-Credit to miami. You can try to blame Joe or blame the players for leaving MIami open for those 3's. But you also have to credit miami for spacing the floor really well, spreading our defenders out. And moving the ball really quickly, zipping the ball around so our defenders are scrambling around (it's a saying in basketball, that you can pass the ball faster than a defender can run). And also playing with pace, really getting into their offense quick, bringing the ball up the floor fast and with urgency, quickly moving the ball and attacking the defense.