The Boston Celtics took care of business in dominant fashion, crushing the Miami Heat 118-84 to vanquish their playoff nemesis in five games and advance to the second round.
Derrick White continued his scorching play from Game 4 to tally 25 points, which matched teammate Jaylen Brown’s game-high total. Jayson Tatum chipped in a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Boston will play the winner of the series between the Orlando Magic and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Celtics cruised past Miami with ease to win the series in five games, so there wasn’t a clear indication about how the big man rotation will work in the second round with Kristaps Porziņģis likely missing time.
“I’m not sure,” Joe Mazzulla said when asked for a timetable. “We’re just gonna give it a week, kind of see where he’s at, kind of see how he responds to the treatment over the next week.”
Al Horford only had to play 23 minutes while Luke Kornet played for 18, but Horford never had to come back in for the fourth quarter. Will the Celtics play Kornet deep into the fourth quarter in the next round so Horford can come in for a shorter crunch time stint? Will they mix in some Xavier Tillman to ease the minutes burden on Horford?
Jarrett Allen missed Game 5 for Cleveland with a rib injury, so his absence would affect Boston’s reliance on a center throughout the game if Cleveland advances. Orlando has size and power across the board, so will Boston use Tillman instead of Kornet? The Celtics showed in this series against Miami that they can respond well to adversity. But their next opponent will have a clear advantage in the front court and will likely give the Celtics a more serious test. — Jared Weiss, Celtics beat writer
In recent years, the Celtics have played long series almost exclusively. Not in the first round. They showed urgency in Game 5 to take care of business, eliminate Miami and give themselves an extra couple days of rest. Boston took away any suspense in the first half while building a 30-point lead, then never let Miami get close in the second half. In the deciding game of the series, Tatum only needed to play 32 minutes and Brown only needed to play 26. The Celtics closed the game with a bench lineup of Svi Mykhailiuk, Oshae Brissett, Tillman, Jaden Springer and Payton Pritchard.
Against an 8-seed missing three starters in Jimmy Butler, Terry Rozier and Jaime Jaquez Jr., the Celtics did what they were supposed to do. After dropping Game 2 of the series, they lifted their intensity and shut down the Heat offense over the next three games. Miami only made three 3-pointers in Game 5 while failing to produce any type of consistent scoring.
The Celtics will face stiffer competition in the later rounds. For at least the start of the second round, they will be without Porziņģis. But they were dominant without him throughout the regular season and again looked great without him in Game 5. By capitalizing on their first chance to close out the series, they made their playoff path a bit easier and kept additional miles off their legs. — Jay King, Celtics beat writer
The Heat’s season came to a gruesome end tonight and now they prepare for another summer filled with questions about how they can fortify this roster and get back to being a championship contender.
Once Butler went down with a knee injury in Miami’s Play-In Tournament loss to Philadelphia, the chances of putting any pressure on Boston in this series was slim to none. But this is two straight seasons the Heat have entered the postseason as a No. 8 seed.
There were already efforts to pursue Damian Lillard last offseason after making a trip to the NBA Finals. And after going down in such an ugly way this season, Miami will almost certainly be back in the market looking for another star who can provide more juice to an offense that’s been below average each of the last two seasons.
Then, there are also the questions about Butler as he heads into the final season of his current contract. Miami will have a chance to sign him to an extension before the start of next season. But if the two sides don’t come to an agreement, would Miami consider a future without Butler? Would Butler try to push his way out?
There will be some tough decisions for Miami to make. Does the front office commit to this current version of the team even more or does it start exploring ways to rebuild? Bam Adebayo’s presence makes the future look a little less shaky. But he needs more contributors around him who can be a part of the future and help him find a path back to the top of the East.
