Heat Beat Celtics in Stunner – A Heat wave hit Boston. Spearheaded by a franchise playoff record 23 3-pointers, the Miami Heat knotted up their first-round Eastern Conference series against the Boston Celtics with a 111-101 victory Wednesday night.
Following a nip and tuck first half, the Heat in the third quarter outscored the Celtics 27-18 to retake the lead. It was an advantage they refused to relinquish to even the series at 1-1.
“It was a very good response,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “And then we also made some shots. It always looks better when you make shots.”
The Heat relied heavily on perimeter shots and it paid big dividends versus the Celtics.
Heats’ coach Spoelstra stated earlier Wednesday that they would make a joint effort to limit the Celtics’ 3-point attempts and increase theirs for Game 2. The game plan worked to perfection in Miami’s favor.
The Celtics did in Game 1 what has been their calling card all year, using 3s to their advantage, going 22-for-49 from deep. Game 2 was a different story altogether, as they shot an ice cold 12-for-32 from downtown. Miami, on the other hand, shot bombs away, connecting on 23-for-43 from behind the 3-point line.
Miami’s 23 triples were two shy of the NBA playoff record set by the Cleveland Cavaliers and broke their previous franchise mark of 20, which was set during the 2021 playoffs against the Milwaukee Bucks.
“They obviously made a conscious effort to have free reign to shoot more,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said.
Tyler Herro shot 6-for-11 from distance, while Caleb Martin chipped in five 3-pointers of his own in six attempts.
Herro, who was held to a quiet 11 points in 34 minutes of action on Sunday, found better success in Game 2 by dropping 24 points. He made critical play to get his teammates involved with 14 assists on the night. Herro got plenty of help and was backed up by 21 points each from Martin and Bam Adebayo. Nikola Jovic came up huge at both ends of the court with 11 points, 9 boards and 6 helpers.
Jaylen Brown, who led everyone with 33 points, and had 8 rebounds and Jayson Tatum, 28 points, 8 rebounds, did everything they possibly could, but Miami’s offense was much more balanced and you could not key on just one person. The Celtics’ reserves did not have much impact on the game as they were outscored by the Heat’s bench 20-12.
Already shorthanded without their leader Jimmy Butler (MCL sprain) and Terry Rozier (neck spasms), the Heat head home with the series tied at one and coming off a game where their shooting prowess turned around.
The New Orleans Pelicans weren’t so fortunate. After barely losing in a Game 1 thriller, they got steamrolled by the Oklahoma City Thunder in a 124-92 loss to fall behind 2-0. The Thunder were up double-digits by the end of the first quarter and never wavered.
The series continues with Game 3 in Miami on Saturday night at 6 p.m. ET.
And…
Gilgeous-Alexander Leads Thunder Past Pelicans – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is a finalist for the NBA MVP award, put on another show-stopping performance, scoring a game-high 33 points and Chet Holmgren added 26 as the home team, Oklahoma City Thunder, demolished the New Orleans Pelicans 124-92 on Wednesday to take a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference first-round playoff series.
Oklahoma City owns its first 2-0 edge in a playoff series for the first time in eleven years, since the 2013 first round. Game 3 in the best-of-seven series is set for Saturday in the ‘Big Easy’, New Orleans at 3:30 p.m. ET.
Gilgeous-Alexander said the Thunder remained locked in, focused and ready to go instead of worrying about outside issues such as other highly seeded teams struggling at home.
“I think it just goes back to us prioritizing winning,” he said. “And all those things are distractions that get in the way of winning. And every night, all 15 of us go to bed and want to win the next game, want to win the next day. And we do everything we can to do so.”
Gilgeous-Alexander, who shot a blistering 13 of 19 from the floor, produced his best scoring total in a playoff game. Holmgren knocked down 9 of 13 as the Thunder shot 59 percent from the field, including 14-of-29 (48.3 percent) from 3-point land.
“I think it’s important for us not to get drunk on the final score,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “Shooting the ball like that is never guaranteed.”
Big man Jonas Valanciunas came out on a mission and was taking no prisoners, scoring the Pelicans’ first 11 points and finished with a team-high 19 after scoring 13 points in the Pelicans’ 94-92 Game 1 loss. His rebound total dropped like a rock from 20 in the opener to a team-high seven on Wednesday.
New Orleans’ Herbert Jones and Brandon Ingram added 18 points apiece.
The Pelicans led by two after Jones hit a three just more than four minutes into the game for the team’s first non-Valanciunas bucket.
Then Oklahoma City took over and went on a 21-6 extended run to seize control for what proved to be the rest of the game. After the Thunder took a 13-point lead late in the opening quarter, the Pelicans never pulled closer than eight in the second quarter and never was closer than 12 in the second half.
Other than Valanciunas, who went 5 of 7 from the floor, the Pelican was a frigid 3 of 14 from the field in the first quarter. While Valanciunas made a big impact on the inside early, so did his Thunder counterpart, Holmgren.
The Oklahoma City rookie out of Gonzaga, connected on three triples in the first six minutes, including one that put the Thunder ahead for good just after Jones’ trey.
The lion’s share of the Thunder’s early offensive production came thanks to stifling defense, as Oklahoma City scored eight first-quarter points off five Pelicans’ turnovers while not committing a turnover in the period. The Thunder finished with 22 points off New Orleans’ 18 turnovers while the Pelicans scored just six points off Oklahoma City’s nine giveaways.
“A lot of the turnovers were the illegal screens that they called,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said. “I’ve never seen that many illegal screens. But no excuses.”
Jalen Williams added 21 points, Luguentz Dort chipped in 15 and Josh Giddey had 13 for the Thunder.
With the Thunder leading by 34 with 3:29 remaining, Daigneault called off the dogs, taking out his starters to a large ovation by the sellout crowd.
“Now, the challenge is to continue to grow and learn and improve with the series because the Pelicans are going to improve,” Thunder coach Daigneault said. “They’re a good team that’s going home and they’re well coached. They’re going to get better. You know so we have to continue to get better.”
