The Celtics fell victim to the Heat’s white-hot shooting in Game 2.

Well, that’s a result that no one really expected to happen, huh. Game 2 of the Boston Celtics-Miami Heat series went in favor of the visiting team. How did they win? Well, a white-hot shooting day for Caleb Martin and the Heat’s sharpshooters spelled doom for the first-seeded Celtics. Boston just couldn’t keep up with their insane shooting.

After the game,though, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla had some interesting thoughts on the stunning loss. In the post-game press conference, Mazzulla commented that the Heat were able to make their shots despite good contests from the team, per Brian Robb.

“Defensively, obviously they made a conscious effort with free reign to shoot more,” Mazzulla said. “I thought most of those were moderately to heavily contested, so we’re going to have to make the adjustment on some of those.”

However, as Robb notes in his article, that assessment seems to be a bit too generous in the Celtics’ favor. Upon analyzing the footage, there were only a few of the Heat’s makes that were actually contested. The rest were wide-open shots that seemed to be born out of design and not through miscommunication for the most part.

The Heat have almost always have had the Celtics’ number in the postseason. Both teams have faced each other numerous times over the last few years in the playoffs. In every series, Miami always seems to have at least one game where their shooters pop off. Boston tried to execute a gameplan that failed miserably, and they have lost homecourt advantage.

Celtics’  disastrous Game 2

David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
With Jimmy Butler still sidelined with an injury, the Heat came into Game 2 with a plan: try to shoot themselves into a win. They took 43 (!!!) three-point shots. Incredibly, they made 23 of those, setting a franchise record for most threes in a playoff game. The Celtics got punched in the mouth by Miami’s hot shooting, and they were unable to bounce back.

Despite that hot start, the Celtics were still in the game towards the end. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown did  their absolute best to eke out a win. However, Mazzulla’s strategies towards the end of the game was… questionable at best.

As mentioned, Butler was unavailable for the team due to an  MCL tear. With Terry Rozier also out, that left the Heat with only two credible playmakers: Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo. Towards the end of the game, Mazzulla and the Celtics decided to send additional help towards the Heat’s bread-and-butter Herro-Adebayo pick-and roll.

In a vacuum, it’s a sound strategy. The Celtics are basically forcing the Heat’s role players to beat them by neutralizing their two-man game. However, that entire game was basically the Heat’s shooters punishing them from deep. The idea was solid, but given the context of the game… perhaps that was a bad time to execute the plan.

Now, the Celtics will head into a hostile Heat crowd with the series tied. It’s a less-than-ideal scenario for the top-seeded Boston team. Still, they should be the favorites to win this series if everything goes according to plan.