Celtics stars Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum get little help in loss to Heat
BOSTON — The Celtics’ two top stars provided fireworks on Wednesday night, but Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown’s impressive stretches were enough in the 111-101 loss to the Heat.
The primary reason why the Celtics lost Game 2 and head to Miami knotted 1-1 in their first round series is because the Heat were on fire shooting from three Wednesday night.
Related Articles
Celtics have seen Jrue Holiday bring ‘open-mindedness’ on defense
Celtics’ Joe Mazzulla provides injury update on Luke Kornet
Why Jrue Holiday was the unsung hero of Celtics’ Game 1 win over Miami Heat
Celtics’ Joe Mazzulla ‘enjoyed’ Jayson Tatum-Caleb Martin dustup in Game 1 win
Callahan: The Celtics sharpened their edge for Miami in Game 1, can they keep it?
But the lack of support Brown and Tatum received didn’t help.
Tatum scored 10 of the Celtics’ first 14 points and 28 overall while shooting 10-of-20 in the loss. Brown scored 33 and went on an 11-3 run on his own to close out the first half. The rest of the team managed just 40 points.
Brown was 13-of-23 overall and 4-of-9 from three. He was 3-of-6 from the free-throw line and had eight rebounds, one assist, one steal, one block, two turnovers and one foul.
“I think some of that was just the best option through the mismatch,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said after the game of Brown’s performance. “I think he went on a good run at the end of the first and had some good plays in the third quarter. He picked and choosed his spots well and was pretty efficient on the offensive end. Just gotta be better as a team offensively executing our spacing.”
The Heat shot 53.5% from three in Wednesday’s win. Caleb Martin, who sent Tatum flying in Game 1 on a hard foul, went 5-of-6 from behind the arc on his way to 21 points despite getting booed by the Celtics faithful every time he touched the ball.
Outside of the two stars’ performances, Derrick White led the rest of the team in scoring with 13 points. Kristaps Porzingis had a rough night, going just 1-of-9 from the field and 0-for-4 from three while scoring six points with seven rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks. He also turned the ball over twice. His +/- was a team-low -32.
“Just upped the physicality, switching, higher pickup points. Just gotta fight for spacing and fight through those 2-on-1s when they’re screening,” Mazzulla said of Porzingis’s struggles. “On many of the screens, they won the battle of the screens. So, we’ve just got to fight to win those.”
Mazzulla said the Heat were physical with Porzingis on some of his post-ups that have worked for the Celtics in the past.
The Celtics got just 12 points from their bench with Sam Hauser and Al Horford each scoring six points. Payton Pritchard didn’t attempt a shot despite being on the floor for 19 minutes. He had one rebound, three assists and four fouls.