Tatum Leads Celtics Past Heat – The Miami Heat experienced a big step up in competition without their superstar Jimmy Butler for Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Playoffs matchup with the Boston Celtics, and it showed.
Jayson Tatum and the Celtics absolutely dismantled the Heat on Sunday afternoon by 20, 114-94, as the top seed in the Eastern Conference took the first step toward overcoming their playoff nightmares against Miami.
It was a total team effort, and Tatum putting his fingerprints all over the game posting the first postseason triple-double of his career, 23 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, to go along with masterful performances from Kristaps Porziņģis (18 points), Jaylen Brown (17 points, eight boards) and Derrick White (20 points) all culminating in a solid game.
“It’s supposed to be tough. In the playoffs no game is easy,” Tatum said. “There’s no guaranteed wins regardless of time and score, how much time is left. … We just had to respond and we did that.”
The Celtics were unconscious from the great beyond, (22-of-49, 44.9 percent), also shared the rock (27 assists) and spread the love offensively (six players in double-digit scoring), leading by as many as 34 points in the third quarter.
The Heat did not roll over and lay down, slicing the deficit down to 14 points late in the fourth, but that was all cosmetic. Overall, this was a comfortable win for the Celtics.
Bam Adebayo paced the Heat with 24 points and six rebounds.
“There was a four or five-minute stretch when we didn’t handle it well, but I think the other 42-43 minutes — that’s the recipe,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said.
Tempers flared and things got a little spicy in the final minute when Caleb Martin undercut Tatum on a rebound attempt and sent him crashing hard to the floor. Brown got in Martin’s face afterward, leading to a brief dustup and double technical fouls on Brown and Martin.
“It’s a physical game playing against a physical team. (Stuff is) going to happen,” Tatum said. “It’s probably not the last time I’m going to get hit like that, or fouled in this series. I wasn’t hurt to get hit like that. Just get up. … Just go down there and knock the free throws down.”
There is no doubt that the Heat are overmatched, outclassed and in trouble if Butler cannot return to this series with the Willis Reed effect. It would have been a much more competitive series with him after the Celtics plowed through the NBA this season to the tune of 64 wins.
There is also plenty of history and no love lost in this matchup. These franchises have gone head-to-head with each other in four of the past five postseasons. Both last year and in the 2019-20 campaign, Miami kept the Celtics from a berth in the NBA Finals. In the 2021-22 season, it was Boston who came out on top in the Eastern Conference Finals, before ultimately losing to the Golden State Warriors.
The two teams have now played 21 games in the playoffs against each other since the 2019-20 campaign. The Heat lead the matchup by the slimmest of margins, 11-10.
However, it seems like the balance of power will swing back in the Celtics favor this year, potentially in a major way as Butler is forced to watch from the sidelines. Game 1 felt like a preview of a lopsided affair to come.
Game 2 is Wednesday in Boston at TD Garden.
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Clippers Defeat Mavericks in Playoff Series Opener – No Kawhi is nothing new for the Clippers.
The Los Angeles Clippers did not have the services of their superstar forward Leonard due to knee inflammation for Game 1 of their first-round playoff series against the Dallas Mavericks, but they still cruised to a wire-to-wire 109-97 victory over Luka Dončić and the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday at Crypto.com Arena.
Their floor general, James Harden, led the effort with 28 points, 20 of them coming in the first half and eight assists along with 6-of-11 shooting from 3-point range, while Ivica Zubac was a man amongst boys, dominated down low with 20 points and 15 boards. Paul George poured in 22, which was more than enough to overcome a double-double from Dončić, 33 points, 13 rebounds and six assists, and 31 points from Kyrie Irving.
“We obviously want Kawhi back when he’s ready,” George said. “The luxury we have is just experience with James, myself, Russ, Norm’s been in big playoff battles.”
While it was a balanced scoring attack, Harden garnered most of the love from the fans in the arena and at home.
“Just a perfect game for a big,” Harden said.
The Mavericks let a golden opportunity to steal one on the road when Leonard was downgraded from questionable to out because of the injury, but the Clippers had other plans in mind. They got straight to work and wasted no time setting the tone and jumped out to a commanding 56-30 lead at halftime.
There was plenty to cheer about on the offensive end with Zubac overpowering the Dallas frontcourt and Russell Westbrook making plays in transition and throwing down an alley-oop from Harden, who controlled the tempo as the primary ball-handler and outside shooting threat.
“When I’m out there, I’m going to try to punish them in the post,” said Zubac, in his sixth season with the team. “I want to be the best version I can be for this team.”
But it was the stifling defense that ruled the day the most as the Clippers asserted themselves more and more.
The perimeter defenders contested outside looks from Dončić and Irving as they combined to go a putrid 1-of-10 from 3-point land in the first half. Zubac controlled the glass, Westbrook forced turnovers and even Harden, who will never been known as the greatest defender, blocked multiple shots.
There was no doubt that Dončić and Irving would find their rhythm and come to life on the offensive end, and the duo did just that in the third quarter. In fact, Irving resembled Isiah Thomas from the ‘Bad Boy’ Pistons, scoring 20 points by himself in the third with a combination of three-pointers and showstopping plays in the lane.
Despite his heroics, the Mavericks trimmed a whole three points off the deficit heading to the fourth because they could not string together consecutive defensive stops. Zubac led the way for extended stretches, Westbrook continued to anchor the bench unit and Harden did not have to carry as much of the scoring load after halftime with so many of his teammates contributing.
The final outcome was never truly in doubt even with Dončić and Irving getting their points, and Harden fittingly hit the step-back three-pointer in the waning moment that put the game on ice. If he can turn in a duplicate performance at home in Tuesday’s Game 2, the Clippers can jump out to a 2-0 lead.
