The Miami Heat steal game 1…again.

Jimmy Butler and crew walks into TD Garden and takes care of business.

Here’s how they did it…

#1: Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo come out aggressive.

All the focus was on Jimmy Butler entering that first quarter, but not fully for basketball reasons: everybody just wanted to know about that ankle. He answered that call early as he didn’t seem to be held back whatsoever. Celtics throw length at him, he responds with PnR’s with Bam Adebayo for tough jumpers. He was connecting, and more importantly aggressive early. Bam Adebayo was right there with him though in the aggression department. Flowing into mid range pull-ups, connecting below the rim, and just going to the basket off some screening actions really mirrored pre-All Star break production. If you looked at the early three point attempts, that would’ve told you the Heat are leaning on their stars. More in their hands means less chucks from three.

#2: Kyle Lowry coming alive.

To finish up on the early positives, a giant one was the play of Kyle Lowry. As I said before the series, I thought he was this team’s X-Factor. An action they relied on more than any other against this Celtics team has always seemed to be the Lowry-Bam PnR. They just find good offense there, and that’s exactly what Lowry did right out the gates. Three first half triples would tell you that, but it was the way he was generating them. Pull-ups in the form to replicate the loss of Tyler Herro, but more importantly they were extremely early in the shot clock. Lowry likes taking those quick transition ones, but not a frequent spot-up shooter with over 20 seconds on the shot clock. He was playing in a flow, and had that ultimate green light. Interesting to see his usage throughout the series.

#3: Celtics give their second quarter punch…

While the Heat were generating good things to start this game, they also began falling into some bad habits. The first half turnover problems would be a good place to start, since they were just extremely careless at times with the basketball. The efficiency was there, but the control was not. And well, a lot of that bled into the defense, which is where their issues were created. The Celtics were generating the shots that they wanted, and seemed much more comfortable than I expected them to look. The Heat weren’t making it tough on their creators, which is the start of a bad defensive possession. Guys like Marcus Smart can’t be destroying the point of attack defense, since Bam playing “over-helper” to Smart when Brown and Tatum on the floor is not where they want to be. The biggest surprise to me was that Haywood Highsmith wasn’t seeing any floor time, as I believed he would be needed in this matchup.

#4: Heat now give their third quarter punch…

Before I even get to the specifics of the Heat’s punch, it should be noted that they went on a 27-9 run at one point. So clearly they flipped a switch. That switch began with Bam Adebayo, who set a tone early in the third by continuing to attack and get to his pull-ups. That kept Miami in range, as Kevin Love was at the forefront of switching some momentum. He started getting into this full court touchdown passes to create some flow for Max Strus and himself, and man did that come into fruition. Strus hits an off the dribble right wing three, as Love knocks down a transition pull-up 3 in a matter of seconds. In the blink of an eye, it’s a one possession game. Now Butler was also calming things for Miami offensively as well by getting to his inside the arc slots, but the key was the turnover element. After those early turnover issues I mentioned, they completely cut them out in that third quarter. They ate Boston’s punch, and threw a haymaker right back.

#5: The fourth quarter:

With 7 and a half minutes to go, the Celtics hit a 3 to cut the lead to 5. Energy shifting, crowd getting into it, Heat need a bucket. So what do the Heat rely on? A Butler-Bam PnR. Who knew? Butler loops baseline and finds Bam in the middle of the floor for the score. Shortly after, Butler gets the Derrick White matchup that he likes, pivots until he can’t rotate again, and knocks down a tough turnaround. Back at a 9 point game. A couple Celtics possessions later, the Heat call a timeout to settle things as Boston cut it to 5 following some Jayson Tatum free throws. For the next 2 minutes, both teams felt good about the looks they were getting, but just couldn’t convert. Butler kept coming up huge with interception after interception, yet they still couldn’t score. Finally with over 2 minutes to go, Butler gets doubled, he kicks to Martin, and he hits the 3. Lead now at 7. Finally, a Butler pull-up 3 with the shot clock running out puts Miami in ultimate comfort. Recreates the game 7 pull-up 3 while he’s at it. Heat steal game 1.