Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Heat upset Celtics in Game 2

The outgunned Heat copped one of its finest wins in franchise history, splashing 13 first-half triples to stay within striking distance at halftime, and then the Celtics emerged from the break with even more suspect, three-point protection to close the game. Bam Adebayo outplayed Kristaps Porziņģis. And Tyler Herro had the top showing of his career.

The Heat was absent Jimmy Butler (knee) and Terry Rozier (neck).

Early, the visitors upped the pace, unsettling the hosts. Nikola Jović, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Tyler Herro each downed two trays against late closeouts.

On defense, the crew couldn’t stop Jayston Tatum in man-to-man coverage. He broke into the lane, making a layup, finished a lob on the break and hit three outside jumpers, totaling 14 of the Celtics’ 27 first-quarter points.

Through 12 minutes, the Heat led 28-27.

Afterward, Herro, Caleb Martin and Haywood Highsmith registered five 3-pointers in the second frame. Jović set up two teammates and drove left past Jaylen Brown from the top to the cup for a left-handed scoop. And Adebayo canned a fadeaway over Porziņģis in the paint and Euro-stepped into a layup on the break.

But Brown countered with the Celtics’ last 11 points to end the interval, making three 3-pointers and a layup on the break after stripping Jović in the post.

At halftime, the Heat was behind 58-61 and down on the glass by three. Additionally, the team had 10 paint points, five on the break, none via second chances, nine after turnovers and eight from the bench.

The Celtics racked up 28 interior points, 10 in the open court, six on extra tries, nine after turnovers and nine from the reserves.

Later, the hosts started the third producing on three of 13 attempts. In that span, Tatum was guarded by Adebayo for a bit, and the former didn’t attempt a shot with the latter on him. And Porziņģis kept failing on jumpers he usually makes facing closeouts or smalls on switches.

For the Heat, Herro, Martin, Highsmith and Duncan Robinson supplied six more artillery strikes in the third quarter. Adebayo cut up the baseline, dunking unchallenged, and slammed a left-side lob fed by Herro. And Martin scored an acrobatic layup on the break and zoomed by Brown for a basket through the middle.

The Heat entered the fourth quarter ahead 85-79.

Tatum was contained on two paint entries, and Porziņģis was invisible. Defensively, the Celtics deployed a weak 2-2-1 press.

Adebayo took charge the rest of the way, dribbling by Al Horford twice into the center for fall-away jumpers and making two shots off a pick-and-roll set with Herro. The rest of the Heat contributed five of 16 buckets to close the game, but it was enough.

The Heat won 111-101 and picked up one more rebound than the Celtics. Furthermore, the guests had 26 paint points, seven on the break, zero via second chances, 20 after turnovers and 20 from the bench.

Herro scored 24 points on seven of 13 attempts, with five rebounds, 14 assists, one steal and three turnovers. Adebayo logged 21 on his ledger on 69.2% accuracy, with 10 rebounds and two dimes. And Martin put up 21 points on seven of 12 looks, with two rebounds and a steal. Jović (11) and Jaquez (14) were the other double-digit scorers.

The Celtics had 46 interior points, 15 in the open court, eight on extra tries, nine after turnovers and 12 from the reserves.

Brown had 33 points on 13 of 25 shots and picked up eight rebounds, one assist, a steal, a block and three turnovers. Tatum accumulated 28 points on 50% shooting, with eight boards, three dimes and three turnovers. And Derrick White recorded 13 points on five of seven ventures, with one rebound and four assists.

Herro handled the on-court interview. He said, “We lost [badly] in Game 1, and everyone responded. That’s all you can ask for from a group of guys.”

The Heat made 23 3-pointers, a new franchise best for the Playoffs. The previous high was 20 triples in Game 1 v. the Bucks on May 22, 2021.

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