Excellent piece.
The stubbornness of first-year Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, who is on his heels against veteran Heat counterpart Erik Spoelstra and publicly insists his every move is the correct one…
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Mazzulla has stuck with what the game plan tells him, not what the game is telling him. The latest example was Al Horford in lieu of Robert Williams III for the game's final 7:41, when the 36-year-old was pushing his shooting slump to 5-for-29 from 3-point range (17.2%) over his last six games and avoiding attempts that might have made it worse. He was shook, and Williams was the more active and effective player all night.
[My brother was right.]
Did the Celtics consider riding him instead? "No," said Mazzulla. "Al's finished every game he's played."
Meanwhile, Spoelstra confounded Jaylen Brown with an array of looks the Celtics were unprepared for, including a zone defense they have seen from the Heat countless times before.
[“Unprepared”. Despite intimate familiarity.]
"We just haven't figured it out in terms of how to exploit it every single time down the floor," said Brown, who is now 2-for-13 from distance in the series. "We've got to recognize certain situations.
the entire [g. williams-Jimmy] brouhaha was emblematic of Boston's inferior mentality. The Celtics act like they have won when the job is not done. The Heat understand, if they never stop tugging, Boston will let go of the rope. The Celtics built double-digit leads in the second, third and fourth quarters, and each time they gave them right back.
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…Not only do the Celtics need to win four of the next five games, but they might have to win them all decisively, because when the score is close, we have seen the script too many times before. Boston might be the more talented team, but the Heat are tougher mentally and physically under pressure.