Three Blocks

The Boston Celtics came to play on Tuesday in Miami. They took control of Game 4 in the third quarter, when they staked themselves to a lead they would not relinquish with a 16-0 run. But it was three consecutive blocks early in the fourth quarter that took the fight out of the Heat:

Each of these three blocks was different, and each was impressive in its own right. Derrick White came from behind to punk Duncan Robinson, which felt so, so, so good after Robinson punked the Celtics time and again in Game 3.

Grant Williams stood tall on Jimmy Butler, exacting a fraction of revenge for Game 2 (though I don't fault Grant at all for his play in Game 2, as he was one of the few guys who actually competed down the stretch). If you want to put a caveat on this block it was that Butler seemed exhausted at this point – he tuckered himself out in the third quarter. But Butler has made a lot of great plays when he's tired. It was a big deal.

Jayson Tatum hung with Gabe Vincent in the corner and got enough of the shot to pop it straight into the air and turn it into a jump ball. Only Vincent jumped for it, because Tatum's momentum carried him out of bounds, and Vincent hurt himself skying for the ball, as he rolled his ankle when he landed. Vincent would come back into the game after a short trip to the locker room, but Reggie Miller – a guy who knows a thing or two about turning ankles – seemed very concerned. It's worth monitoring ahead of Game 5.

Rewind to the first block. If Robinson gets that shot off clean and hits it, it would have been a four-point game with just over nine minutes to play. Instead, ~78 seconds later, the C's had a 14-point lead, and the game was basically over, as log as the C's didn't collapse. The Heat briefly got the lead down to 13 points, but there was no furious comeback in them.

Were the Heat tired? Butler got to 29 points, but a lot of it came from his free throw grifting. He shot 9-for-21, and after putting in 15 points in the third quarter, appeared gassed in the fourth. After Grant blocked his shot, he front rimmed a 7 footer that he usually makes. He then missed a couple of lay-ups, and drooped his head and slumped his shoulders after the second one:

Am I overanalyzing Butler's body language? Yeah, probably, but I've watched him in more games than I care to remember over the past four seasons, and that is not usually how he reacts.

What is not overanalyzing is to point out that Bam Adebayo only took seven shots, including zero in 10:54 of fourth quarter action, and just one in 17:05 of second half action. Once he got into foul trouble – he picked up his fourth foul with 5:49 left in the third quarter – he more or less disappeared. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said in his TNT interview prior to the fourth quarter that his "guys really want this." And then Bam came out and put up the following fourth quarter line: 0-for-0 from the field, 0-for-2 at the free throw line, two rebounds, one turnover, and a quarter-worst -8. Yikes.

The Celtics outhustled, outworked, and out-defended the Heat in Game 4. That defensive effort was a long time coming, and hopefully, a sign of things to come.

Malcolm Escapes Miami

Malcolm Brogdon is going to be excited to leave Miami. This season, he has now played three games in Miami – the second game of the season, and these two playoff games (he was out for the game on January 24th). In those three games, Brogdon has shot 3-for-21, including 0-for-6 and 1-for-5 in Games 3 and 4. I don't think that Brogdon is physically incapable of playing a good game there, but it is certainly something to monitor. They'll need him to be a lot better on Thursday.

Three-Point Shooting Revisited

I talked yesterday about how the C's have usually rebounded quickly after bad three-point shooting nights. An 18-for-45 for 40 percent night from three certainly checks that box.

Grading the Defense vs. Butler

Before the series, I said the two things the C's had to was keep Jimmy Butler under 30 points, and keep him to 10 or fewer free throws per game. Here's how they're doing thus far:

Game 30+ Pts? 11+ FTs?

1   Yes (35)    No (10)

2   No (27)     No (3)

3   No (16)  No (7)

4   No (29)  Yes (12) 

Despite Miami's penchant for isolating Butler on whomever they deem to be the weakest defender on the court, the C's are doing a pretty good job on Butler. Things got out of hand because the other guys – most notably Caleb Martin and Gabe Vincent – got red hot in Games 2 and 3. But they have contained Butler pretty well throughout, and in Game 4, they contained the other guys in the second half.

The Perfect Amount of Time for Al Horford

Because of foul trouble, Al Horford only played 25 minutes in Game 4, which clocked in at sixth-most on the team. The other four starters and Grant Williams all played more. While it was because of foul trouble, this is the right mix moving forward. What it meant was that Horford was always fresh. Horford entered the fourth quarter at around 20 minutes played for the game. He was very active, and was out running the break. His quick pass to Jaylen Brown on the fast break for Jaylen's dunk was a backbreaker.

Perhaps just as importantly, when he picked up his fifth foul with seven minutes left, coach Joe Mazzulla subbed him out for Robert Williams III, and left Horford on the bench. In the ensuing six minutes, Rob put through a dunk, grabbed two rebounds, and played a few possessions really well when switched onto Butler. It proved that the C's are capable of closing games with Horford on the bench and Rob in the lineup.

Would Al have likely played the whole fourth quarter if he wasn't in foul trouble? There's a pretty good chance he would have. But he didn't need to, and if the C's are going to think long-term, keeping Al to 25 minutes per game would be a great way to do so. After all, they'll need to play at least seven more games to win the NBA title.

Kudos to Joe Mazzulla

Mazzulla had a pretty good game. It didn't feel like he inexplicably buried guys that should be playing. He was right on top of the one call he needed to challenge (when Butler dropped the ball out of bounds in the fourth) before the refs reversed course and got the call correct. He did a much better job of using his time outs. And when the Heat played zone, Mazzulla got Tatum and Brown into situations where they could hit mid-range jumpers to break it. Mazzulla's got a long way to go before he's as good of a coach as Spoelstra, but in Game 4 it felt pretty even.