The Celtics Had A 3rd Quarter From Hell And It Just Cost Them Game 1

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To go into Miami and win Game 1 without Al Horford and Marcus Smart, the Celtics needed to be as close to perfect as possible. They had to be locked in for a full 48 minutes. For 24 of those, that was the case. They came out and looked great on both ends. Defensively they were swarming the Heat, causing turnovers and challenging shots and on the other the ball was moving and they were about as effective as you can be against this Heat defense. They scored 62 points and shot 59% in the first half. They had all the momentum on the road.

Then the 3rd quarter happened.

How bad was it? Try the worst we've seen the Celtics play a quarter in FOUR YEARS

It was the exact type of showing you absolutely cannot have in the ECF. They made 2 shots all quarter while turning the ball over 8 times. Tatum had 6 by himself. The Heat got off to a 22-2 start in the frame and won the quarter 39-14. 39-14!! I didn't even know that was possible. From up 8 to down 16 in a blink of an eye and the lead ballooned to as much as 20. It's so fucking frustrating. How many times do we've to see this team lose playoff games because they don't take care of the basketball? The Heat didn't win any other quarter in this game! But when you win a quarter by +25, none of that matters.

Then you add in the fact that the Celts missed 8 FTs as a team, couldn't keep Jimmy Butler off the line and Tatum having an extremely brutal 2nd half is how you end up throwing away Game 1. I think it goes without saying they need more than 1-7 (1-5) with 6 TOs from Tatum if this team is going to have a chance. There isn't really time to be blowing games like that since ya know, a spot in the NBA Finals is on the line. You cannot score 45 points in a half as a team and have nearly the same amount of TOs (9) as FGM (10). Only 10 made shots in an entire half. That's so fucking bad. Just 28/30% splits over the final 24 minutes is exactly how you find yourself in an 0-1 hole.

Listen, there's no real point in sugarcoating that loss. The Celts played 24 minutes of good basketball at a time when you need to play 48. It sucks. The goal however is to split the first two. That is still on the table. Hopefully at least Smart is back because it's pretty fucking clear how important he is to what this team does on both ends. I don't want to say Game 2 is a must win, but the Heat have never lost a series in which they've had a 2-0 lead, so it kind of is. That's what makes this loss so frustrating. Just don't be horrific, that's literally the bar. Stop turning it over and you put yourself in a position to win every game you play.

Instead, the Celtics had a quarter from hell and now things get a whole lot tougher. We're on to Game 2.