The Celtics rallied late, but a flurry of fourth quarter buckets wasn't enough to overcome an atrocious defensive effort and embarrassingly lifeless start.
Stop me if you've heard that before.
The Heat beat the Celtics 130-124 at the TD Garden Sunday, in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the final score indicates. Miami scored 79 points in the first half, marking the third time in five games the Celtics have allowed an opponent to drop 70 points in the game's two opening quarters. The Heat entered the contest with the 25th-ranked offense in the league.
On Tommy Heinsohn Day, the Celtics delivered a performance that would've given the Hall of Famer a conniption.
The Celtics held a moment of silence before the game for Heinsohn, who passed away last November due to kidney failure. As a broadcaster, Heinsohn famously gave out "Tommy Points" to players who exhibited hustle and grit — usually on the defensive end.
Nobody on the Celtics would've been in contention for one Sunday, with the exception of Aaron Nesmith, who once again shined with a spirited second-half performance (16 points in 19 minutes). Finally, the Celtics' rookie class is showing some life.
It is one of the few bright spots at the end of a dismal season.
With this loss, the Celtics fall to 35-33, placing them firmly in the No. 7 seed. The path out of the play-in game is now daunting: Miami holds a two-game lead.
Once again, the Celtics didn't show any interest in playing defense during the first 24 minutes. Their failure to stop anybody was jarring Sunday, because it came less than 48 hours after they had allowed 121 points to the lowly Bulls. It was the biggest game of the season, and the Celtics came out flat. They were rightfully booed at halftime.
Brad Stevens stated the obvious after the game. "I need to do a better job of making sure those first halves don't get away from us," he said.
And we all need to do a better job of making sure the Celtics don't tease us anymore this spring. This team isn't going anywhere.
The Celtics allowed five Heat players — Trevor Ariza, Duncan Robinson, Tyler Herro, Kendrick Nunn and Bam Adebayo — to reach double figures in the first half. Herro was especially potent, going 5-of-6 from the floor to begin the game.
Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo when playing at the Garden pic.twitter.com/q2UsAuWPP3
— Stimmy Buckets (@sanbrinito) May 9, 2021
Jimmy Butler led the Heat with 26 points, doing most of his damage in the third and fourth quarters. Duncan Robinson added 22.
Evan Fournier scored 30 points for the first time in a Celtics uniform, and Jayson Tatum had 29. Jaylen Brown missed his third straight game with an ankle injury.
Robert Williams III was back in the lineup, but missed the second half due to … turf toe. How somebody who plays basketball on hardwood gets turf toe is as mystifying as the Celtics' abysmal first-half efforts.
Some of Boston's issues on the defensive end are personnel-based. Just like in the Eastern Conference Finals, Adebayo had his way with the Celtics inside, finishing with 20 points on a 5-for-5 outing.
A good metaphor for the day came when there was 6:31 left in regulation. Fournier had just nailed another three-pointer, bringing the Celtics within 10. Finally, the game was within reach.
Then Adebayo followed with a slam dunk on the other end, bullying Kemba Walker, who was guarding him for some reason. You can't win if you can't get a stop.
And you can't get stops if you don't appear to try. In addition to lacking might, the Celtics just seem to lack effort. They allowed Robinson and Herro to hit open threes all day long.
The Celtics have one more chance to realistically get out of the dreaded play-in game. If they beat Miami Tuesday, they'll own the tiebreaker, and just be one game back with three to play. And maybe they'll do it.
But we know another game like today's is right around the corner. That is the most dispiriting part.
