Game one of the Eastern Conference Finals was going according to plan for the Boston Celtics--until suddenly it wasn't. The Celtics led the Miami Heat by as many as 13 points in the first half, and they enjoyed a 66-57 advantage at halftime. In the third quarter, Max Strus (13 points) and Jimmy Butler (12 points) matched the Celtics' output as Miami set a franchise playoff record for points scored in a quarter (46) while taking a 103-91 advantage heading into the final stanza. The Celtics cut the deficit to four points before falling, 123-116.
Jimmy Butler can deny that "Playoff Jimmy" exists but--unlike other legends such as Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster--we have indisputable video proof that "Playoff Jimmy" is real. Butler scored a game-high 35 points, dished for a team-high seven assists, grabbed five rebounds, and pilfered a game-high six steals. Cue up the clip of Butler screaming "Tobias Harris over me?!" while considering not just this Miami win over Boston but also Boston's demolition of Butler's former team, the Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers are not better without Butler, and the Heat are certainly better with Butler.
Butler led the way at both ends of the court, but he had plenty of help, including Bam Adebayo (20 points, eight rebounds, five assists), Max Strus (15 points on 6-10 field goal shooting), Gabe Vincent (15 points on 4-6 field goal shooting), Caleb Martin (15 points on 6-11 field goal shooting), and Kyle Lowry (15 points on 6-12 field goal shooting).
Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 30 points on 9-17 field goal shooting. He also had seven rebounds. Jaylen Brown added 22 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. Tatum and Brown combined to launch 38 of their team's 81 field goal attempts. Four other Celtics scored in double figures. It is difficult to rationally argue that Tatum and Brown disappeared, or that the Celtics did not get enough other players involved, but in a society that favors hot takes over logical analysis we will be fed a variety of overreactions. In the next 48 hours or so, we will be subjected to the following headlines/narratives, in no particular order:
1) Joe Mazzulla could not coach his way out of paper bag with a machete, a bazooka, or a nuclear bomb.
2) The Boston Celtics lack the necessary discipline and focus to win a championship.
3) The Tatum-Brown duo should be broken up.
4) The lead that the Celtics' lost proves that this team has deep, unsolvable problems.
It is amazing how much the "experts" can learn from just one playoff game in a seven game series! One might think that we will not know the narrative and the lesson(s) to be learned until after someone wins the series, but any "expert" will laughingly tell you how naive and foolish it is to think that way. Clearly, for every game there must be a coach who is an idiot, a team that is fatally flawed, and a pairing of star players that can never, ever work. After all, Tatum is 25 and Brown is 26, so if they don't win a championship this season their window is not just closed but sealed shut for eternity.
Side note: I will never understand why great NFL quarterbacks are praised for how many fourth quarter comeback wins that they have but NBA teams are criticized for coming from behind to win playoff series. Every comeback led by Tom Brady fueled his legend, but every playoff series comeback authored by Tatum's Celtics supposedly proves how flawed the Celtics are. I have yet to see anyone ask, "Why did Tom Brady's teams fall behind so many times?" Quarterbacks are praised for winning, but they get special praise for winning after they were losing.
Obviously, it would have been better for the Celtics to win game one, and it is worth noting that game one winners generally advance--but game one winners that advance do so either because they are the superior team (regardless of whether their superiority was widely recognized before the series began) or because significant injuries tilted the outcome. Here, it is reasonable to believe that the Celtics are superior to the Heat, and that this superiority will be demonstrated over the course of the series; this is not the NCAA Tournament, which features flawed teams facing each other in a one and done format.
Butler and the Heat deserve full credit for another great win during an impressive 2023 playoff run, but their success in this one game is not a permanent blot on the collective or individual resumes of the Celtics.