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.
Not gonna lie, folks: This game super duper ultra frigging majorly goddamn sucked. Neither team looked particularly good for much of it, but the Celtics always looked just a tad worse—and sometimes a lot worse, even though they lost by just 3 to the Miami Heat, 109-112.
Boston’s big three did deliver, for whatever that’s worth: 28-9-4 for Jayson Tatum (despite a scoreless first half), 21-9-2 for Jaylen Brown and 20-4-5 for Kemba Walker. But they got nothing from the bench save Gordon Hayward’s 14 points, and regardless, this was a wide-ranging screwup everyone had a hand in—including considerable mistakes by Brad Stevens, whose lunch Erik Spoelstra gleefully ate.
The game began in aggressive fashion:
Marcus Smart opens up on Goran Dragic again. Smart did a terrific job on Dragic in Game 3 – a big reason why Boston got back into the series.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) September 24, 2020
Maybe a little bit too aggressive for this early in the game, which I sorta appreciate but also…don’t get into foul trouble THIS early, especially in a game officiated by Tony Brothers:
2 quick fouls on Jaylen but he's staying in.
— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) September 24, 2020
I'm being 100% serious when I say the biggest reason I want the Celtics to win this series is so that I can stop being forced to hear about Duncan Robinson
— bread boy (@MarxistSmart) September 24, 2020
Scoring-wise it was a back-and-forth affair—Heat punch, Celtics counterpunch. About four lead changes before Brad Stevens called the first timeout at the six-minute mark.
Kemba flying off screens or breaking down people is huge. It puts the opposing defense on their backfoot and they have to react
Kemba gouged the Raptors so bad with this that they changed their entire defense just to deny him freedom of movement (and it almost worked for them!)
— Jayson al Gaib (@Handsome_Jake_) September 24, 2020
The Heat held a minuscule lead by the end of Q1, but not a worrisome one (at the time):
End of 1: Boston 23, Miami 24 pic.twitter.com/IRN9iSZgtZ
— Celtics Stats (@celtics_stats) September 24, 2020
Stevens tried to get minutes from the reserves to start Q2. It didn’t go well, and Tatum having an uncommonly rough night to start didn’t help:
If you put all of the Celtics players’ names in a hat and draw 5 names, you could make a better lineup than what we’ve had out there.
— Andrew (@andrevvdef) September 24, 2020
If something’s up with Tatum, and it sure looks like something is, then Stevens might have to rethink some of the backup-heavy units Tatum’s typically able to carry
— Dan Devine (@YourManDevine) September 24, 2020
It didn’t help that Tony Brothers and Scott Fosters were officiating (although they were kinda tight-assed about both teams, there were some truly egregious “give me my tinfoil hat” calls against the Cs).
Tony Brothers just Tony Brothers all over that play.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) September 24, 2020
Not to mention neither team was particularly looking, like, “good at basketball,” especially on the offensive end.
This has been one ugly game so far.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) September 24, 2020
The Celtics best offense tonight, and it's not a high bar, has been going directly at Duncan Robinson with whoever he is guarding.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) September 24, 2020
The Heat didn’t look much better but had an edge due to foul shots and Tatum’s scoreless half.
Halftime in Orlando pic.twitter.com/rp6vMzOEZR
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) September 24, 2020
https://twitter.com/SamSheehan/status/1308945798269460480?s=20
Q3 started in peak Third Quarter Celtics fashion:
Miami has its first double-digit lead of the series.
— Taylor Snow (@taylorcsnow) September 24, 2020
All our shots coming up short. The 4 days off after we played well for most of game 1 & 2 and all of game 3 has been brutal.
— Bradsketbawl (@bradsketbawl) September 24, 2020
JAYSON TATUM HATH SCORED pic.twitter.com/JolFk2UeJ0
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) September 24, 2020
Three-point shooting is the only thing that kept the Cs from falling massively behind (including triples from Tatum and Hayward).
🌪️🌪️🌪️🌪️ pic.twitter.com/GyWSJWSO5r
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) September 24, 2020
Then suddenly:
Jayson Tatum gets it going in the 3Q, has the #Celtics within 77-76 going into the 4Q w/16 pts – all in the 3Q. Tyler Herro (20 pts) continues to play unlike a rookie w/big shot after big shot for Miami. pic.twitter.com/6GvW7zgJED
— A. Sherrod Blakely (@ASherrodblakely) September 24, 2020
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) September 24, 2020
Third quarter notes:
1. Tatum is alive. So are the Cs. After a scoreless first half, he went off for 16 points.
2. That possession the Heat had 1 million offensive rebounds felt like a big one. A bucket there would have been a big one.
3. Boston offense was so much better.
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) September 24, 2020
An incredible Brown to Theis pass for a dunk, and things looked even more promising:
Yep – Jaylen Brown's passing abilities have SURGED this season. This is one hell of an angle he just hit to set up Theis for a dunk. pic.twitter.com/CnBesnMveR
— Marc D'Amico (@Marc_DAmico) September 24, 2020
Of course, this had to also be The Tyler Herro Game. He had 30 points (ultimately 37, Lord have mercy) with six minutes left in the game and it seemed like Boston was rarely guarding him whenever he shot.
https://twitter.com/auscelticsfan/status/1308960662798757888?s=20
we really let Brandon Wardell drop 30
— Hollywood Deals (@LocalDingus) September 24, 2020
More like Somehow Even More Redneck Eminem, but if you know what Wardell looks like the joke still lands. And then the Cs went cold right at the wrong time:
Marcus Smart now 2-of-10 from field, 1-of-7 from 3.
— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) September 24, 2020
Well, Tatum wasn’t. But it didn’t matter. The opportunity created early in Q4 had been squandered.
https://twitter.com/ReclaimIguana/status/1308965028444409857?s=20
jaylen’s defense and brad JUST NOW FINALLY calling timeout lmao F- all around we deserve to lose this series man
— shea (@sheanorling) September 24, 2020
jaylen’s defense and brad JUST NOW FINALLY calling timeout lmao F- all around we deserve to lose this series man
— shea (@sheanorling) September 24, 2020
Remember when the Celtics won most of the quarters but still lost 2 games? Not so much tonight.
— CelticsBlog (@celticsblog) September 24, 2020
Somehow, through a combination of Scott Foster performance art and Jayson Tatum, the Cs got within a few, but too little too late.
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