"...the Heat played chess while the Celtics were asking if there were flying kings.

 

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla stymied by Heat 

coach Erik Spoelstra’s game plan (Boston Globular)

 

The Celtics had to know this was coming, right? They knew the only way the Miami Heat would be able to win Game 2 was by living behind the 3-point line, going completely out of character and taking their chances.

And it worked. Miami coach Erik Spoelstra had two full days to prepare for Game 2 and completely dominated his matchup with Joe Mazzulla, bringing back painful memories of last year’s Eastern Conference Finals.

Caleb Martin being left open for threes (didn’t the Celtics learn this wasn’t a good strategy when he turned into Steph Curry last year)? Tyler Herro not only knocking down threes but also turning into a playmaker; the Celtics can allow one but not both.

And a swarming Miami defense that turned Kristaps Porzingis into a major liability (minus 32 in his 30 minutes)...

...the Heat played chess while the Celtics were asking if there were flying kings.

The Heat were 13 for 24 [on threes] in the first half, begging the Celtics to make an adjustment to limit the attempts. Instead, they just hoped Miami would miss.

...

...Mazzulla is facing one of the game’s best coaches. What is highly disappointing is Miami’s game plan was no secret. We’re not talking about the rope-a-dope here.

Miami taking more 3-pointers and limiting the Celtics’ attempts was the only way the Heat could make this game competitive. Yet, the Celtics appeared unprepared at times. They were erratic offensively and played right into the Heat’s hands...

...Miami took the Celtics completely out of their game, turned them into drivers against multiple defenders and then the defense offered lazy closeouts to Heat shooters...

It was the Eastern Conference Finals all over again, except Jimmy Butler was back in Miami rehabilitating his knee injury. It’s not inexcusable for the Celtics to have an off night and lose, but it is inexcusable to fail to make adjustments and allow Spoelstra to completely change the perception of the Celtics and their title chances with a 48-minute masterpiece.

It wasn’t that the Celtics came out flat or lackadaisical. It’s that they truly believed they could beat Miami by just sticking to their standard game plan and hoping their talent would win out. They did nothing differently than in Game 1. Mazzulla implemented no new wrinkles.

He coached the game with arrogance because of their 64-win regular season. He relied on his talent to prevail over the more cohesive team that embraced a new game plan. ...[The Heat] knew they had to be different Wednesday because being the same was going to get them beat by 20 again.

So Miami morphed into a stellar 3-point shooting team and the Celtics sat there and watched it happen. And in all honesty, the Heat have quality 3-point shooters...

Mazzulla called most of Miami’s 3-point attempts “moderately to heavily contested.” Not sure what constitutes heavily contested, but the Heat, besides Herro, seemingly had plenty of time for their release because the Celtics didn’t respect their prowess.

...the Spoelstra game plan blitzed entry passes to Porzingis and invited the Celtics to attack the rim but then their defenders closed out aggressively.

...Mazzulla blamed the offense for the defense, but the defense was porous from the beginning and never really improved.

The “let ‘em shoot, they’ll eventually miss” approach failed miserably and it cost the Celtics momentum...