Rapid Recap is designed for the busiest of Celtics fans. Whether you can’t stay awake to read 10 paragraphs or your hangover is just too much, Rapid Recap tells the timeline of the game in only a minute or two.
With their season essentially on the line, the Celtics stayed alive, cutting Miami’s series lead to 2-1 with a 117-106 victory over the Heat in Game 3.
The Celtics dominated the first 44 minutes, but the last 4 were scary as Miami slashed a 20-point deficit to just 5 before the Cs regained control. No worries, the Celts actually led for the entire 48 minutes, and even won the third quarter (!).
The keys: Boston’s defense was sensational; ball movement yielded 27 assists on 41 baskets; Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kemba Walker and Marcus Smart combined for 92 points, and Gordon Hayward returned from his sprained his ankle and – as expected – helped the Celtics handle the Heat’s zone defense.
I did speak w Larry Bird for about 2 hours today. We got into the #Celtics zone defensive struggles.
Larry & I absolutely knew what we knew. Gordon Hayward will absolutely free up that zone tonight. #LFG ☘️💪🏾 pic.twitter.com/PlHT1T9VyO
— Cedric Maxwell (@cedricmaxwell81) September 20, 2020
The Celtics made 7 of their first 10 shots while attacking the rim often, and at the first timeout led 16-9.
Celtics coming out with some aggressive attacking of the paint, happy to see some more ball movement too. Let's hope we see this the full 48 tonight ☘️☘️☘️ #Celtics
— Tim Sheils (@timsheilsnba) September 20, 2020
https://twitter.com/GreenJase/status/1307482596536774656?s=20
Cs also attacked a weak link.
Celtics are going at Duncan Robinson right now. Good look from Tatum to Brown: pic.twitter.com/e2kstOfyj7
— Chris Grenham (@chrisgrenham) September 20, 2020
Hayward checked in after 7 minutes and immediately…
Hayward with the pocket pass for Theis dunk #Celtics #Heat
— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) September 20, 2020
In-game breaking news:
Rachel Nichols reports that Gordon Hayward will NOT leave the bubble again for the birth of his son. Hayward is there to stay.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) September 20, 2020
Ball movement: check.
Celtics already have more assists (7) in first nine minutes tonight than they had in the second half of Game 2 (6).
— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) September 20, 2020
Quarter ended with 9 assists on 13 baskets.
Celtics off to a hot start against the Heat. They shot 50% & lead 31-22
Brown: 8pts (4-of-7)
Walker: 5pts (2-of-4),
Tatum: 5ptsCrowder: 5pts
Butler/Adebayo: 4pts— Josue Pavón (@Joe_Sway) September 20, 2020
Second quarter, the refs made an appearance, and the Celtics got hosed yet again. A clear Heat foul was not called, leading to the three. Refs compounded the error by hitting Tatum with a technical.
No foul pic.twitter.com/jXepX12sK0
— Dan Greenberg (@StoolGreenie) September 20, 2020
How many obviously wrong no-calls into Heat threes are we going to see this series? It’s never ending.
— Ryan Bernardoni (@dangercart) September 20, 2020
Tatum had a response.
My God Jayson Tatum pic.twitter.com/n73fPEFp40
— Chris Grenham (@chrisgrenham) September 20, 2020
Miami got within 51-48 before the Celtics had a 9-0 run, including three straight hoops on breakaways off steals.
quick hands 👐🏾 pic.twitter.com/dnT9DVMhio
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) September 20, 2020
First four possessions:
– Jaylen steal, Tatum fast break dunk
– Tatum rebound, Jaylen perfectly timed leakout fast break dunk
– Jaylen steal, fast break layup
– Smart layup after Celtics defensive stop https://t.co/yTUn1hfOEI— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) September 20, 2020
Somewhere, Tommy Heinsohn rejoices! #RUNRUNRUN
— MercerJersey (@DTram87) September 20, 2020
Boston defense is smothering and leading to easy hoops. Keep doing this please
— Matthew Geagan (@MattGeagan) September 20, 2020
Tyler Herro was on fire, dropping 16 points in the second, but The Jays kept the Celtics in control.
12-2 Celtics run to end the half. Boston lead 62-50
Brown: 17pts (8-of-12), 5rebs, 2stls
Tatum: 13pts, 7asts, 7rebs
Walker: 12pts (5-of-8)
Hayward: 3pts, 3rebs, 2asts (15:27)Herro: 18pts (6-of-10, 4-of-6 from 3)
Adebayo: 8pts, 5rebs— Josue Pavón (@Joe_Sway) September 20, 2020
Really encouraging for the Celtics:
Heat (Herro) made 44.4 percent of their 3s and the Cs hit just 28.6 but have a 12-point lead anyway.— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) September 20, 2020
Update to the halftime score:
The Celtics just got an extra point, as a t2-pointer for Kemba Walker late in the first half was changed to a 3. Boston now leads 63-50 at the start of the third.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) September 20, 2020
Hayward report:
Hayward's stat-line is nothing special, but the ball moves so much better when he's in there. It's popping around the perimeter. He's getting in the soft spots in the zone and getting the ball moving. Good start to his return so far.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) September 20, 2020
Were they ready for the third quarter?
Celtics by 12 at halftime, 62-50.
Now the telltale…
In the playoffs the Celtics have been outscored by 28 points in the 3rd quarter. (15th of 16 playoff teams)
They're a +104 in all other quarters…best in the NBA.
— Sean Grande (@SeanGrandePBP) September 20, 2020
This time, they were.
Smart to Brown 😊 pic.twitter.com/gdI7I5PHp7
— Dante Turo (@DanteOnDeck) September 20, 2020
Daniel Theis picked up foul no. 4 early in the quarter, so Grant Williams came in and immediately scored 5 points as the lead grew to 18.
from deep 👌🏾 pic.twitter.com/T4HU2ztXsK
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) September 20, 2020
There was no let-up.
The Celtics are just relentless. Attack. Attack. Attack. I need a towel.
— Chuck M. (@McK_Chuck) September 20, 2020
There was a lot of tension on Twitter because of the Celtics’ many disastrous third quarters, but the Green held a 19-point lead with 4:19 remaining. And then Miami went on an 11-1 run, helped by the Celtics missing a couple of layups. Nervous moments.
But Boston bounced back with 7 in a row, and won the quarter, 26-24.
AND ONE ‼️ pic.twitter.com/VU9UNyI5nt
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) September 20, 2020
The #Celtics increased their lead in the 3Q, go into the 4Q leading 89-74. J. Brown (24 pts) and J. Tatum (20 pts, 10 reb, 7 assists) were good, but the #Celtics got a nice lift from Grant Williams (5 pts in 8 minutes in the 3Q). Bam Adebayo (18 pts, 10 reb) strong for the Heat.
— A. Sherrod Blakely (@ASherrodblakely) September 20, 2020
Celtics won a third quarter pic.twitter.com/McU5gQngAi
— Chris Nowell (@chris_nowell) September 20, 2020
They're playing with a different level of force. That's pretty clear now." – #Heat coach Erik Spoelstra to ESPN's Rachel Nichols regarding the #Celtics heading into the fourth quarter.
— A. Sherrod Blakely (@ASherrodblakely) September 20, 2020
When Hayward and Tatum swished triples in the early fourth, the lead was back to 19.
Gordon Hayward opens the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer for Boston. He's made a huge difference for them tonight, even without an eye-popping stat line. Six points, four rebounds, three assists, three steals, a block and no turnovers thus far.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) September 20, 2020
DOWNTOWN @JAYTATUM0 pic.twitter.com/dwpa2ZHAoN
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) September 20, 2020
Keeping the pressure on.
Just awesome defensive activity from Jaylen Brown: pic.twitter.com/LSYNSmQqWP
— Chris Grenham (@chrisgrenham) September 20, 2020
Miami caught fire late.
And now Boston's lead is down to 8, and Miami has the ball with 1:03 remaining after an offensive foul by the Celtics. This team just doesn't know how to make it easy on itself.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) September 20, 2020
The Heat were helped by a flagrant foul called on Jaylen, when Duncan Robinson stuck his face into JB’s space and caught an accidental elbow. But it wasn’t enough.
Kemba to the rescue.
Kemba is the king of stopping Heat runs#Celtics pic.twitter.com/vIyE1adGp5
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) September 20, 2020
The defense held Miami to 38.8% shooting and 27.3% on threes. The Celts also crushed points in the paint, 60 to 36. And Smart was 8 for 8 at the line in the final minute to foil the Heat’s intentional fouling.
#Celtics survive late #Heat rally to hold on 117-106. Brown 26, Tatum 25, Walker 21, Smart 20, Hayward 6 pts, 5 reb, 4 ast; Adebayo 27 and 16 rebs, Butler 17, Robinson 13;
MIA 12-for-44 on 3pt
— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) September 20, 2020
https://twitter.com/Kungu_NBA/status/1307519068921040901?s=20
https://twitter.com/ReclaimIguana/status/1307520036974800896?s=20
The Boston Celtics are now 16-1 when Jaylen Brown scores 25 points or more this season…
— Dart_Adams (@Dart_Adams) September 20, 2020
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