Jaylen Brown Drops 17, Exits with Hamstring Injury as Celtics Rout Jimmy Butler, Heat
The Boston Celtics reportedly held an emotional players-only meeting after a Monday loss to the Chicago Bulls. So Thursday's blowout win over the Miami Heat may have been particularly therapeutic.
Spurred on by a 33-9 advantage in the second quarter, the Celtics handed the Heat (6-2) their second loss of the season in a 95-78 drubbing at FTX Arena.
Both teams will leave the game with injury concerns to key players, as both Jaylen Brown and Kyle Lowry left the contest early:
The Celtics (4-5) have won two in a row in the aftermath of that Monday loss and Marcus Smart's critique of teammates Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Smart publicly called out the pair for their unwillingness to pass the ball late in games.
"I'm told it was emotional at times, but in the end, perhaps, not a terribly productive meeting and maybe not even beneficial," ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski said on NBA Countdown regarding the reported players-only meeting (h/t Nick Goss of NBC Sports). "Listen, these are issues with this team and this group that have been going on for a while."
All systems were a go Thursday night, however. Miami's struggles from the floor (34.6 percent) and 18 turnovers certainly helped.
Key Stats
Jaylen Brown, BOS: 17 points, five rebounds
Marcus Smart, BOS: Nine points, four rebounds
Jayson Tatum, BOS: 10 points, eight rebounds
Jimmy Butler, MIA: 20 points
Kyle Lowry, MIA: Six points, seven rebounds, five assists
Bam Adebayo, MIA: 13 points, seven rebounds
Boston's Bench Picked Up the Slack Amid Tatum's Struggles
While Jayson Tatum labored through the first three quarters—all of his points came in the fourth quarter—Aaron Nesmith (13 points), Dennis Schroder (14 points, six assists) and Romeo Langford (12 points) provided a nice spark off the bench.
An 82-game season is a grind. Sometimes, teams need role players to shine. That Boston got such a solid night from its bench on the road, against a very good Miami team while Tatum struggled, made for quite the surprising result.
You don't expect your top scorer to go scoreless for three quarters and still come away with the victory. The Celtics will take it.
The Rim Must Have Looked Tiny for Miami's Shooters
The Heat shot an atrocious 20 percent (9-of-41) from three on Thursday night. It's tough to win when the shots aren't falling.
Duncan Robinson was 5-of-17 from deep. P.J. Tucker was 1-of-5. Lowry was 2-of-7. Butler didn't hit a single one of his four attempts from deep. It was ugly.
Miami is going to win this season behind its defense, and it was another solid effort on that end of the floor. But when there's a lid on the rim, well, it's hard to win.
What's Next?
The Celtics travel to Dallas to face the Mavericks on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET. Miami hosts the Utah Jazz that same day at 7:30 p.m. ET.
