3 Heat takeaways from the ugly Game 1 loss vs. Celtics in NBA Playoffs

On Miami’s side, Bam Adebayo led with 24 points while collecting six rebounds along with Delon Wright who had 17, and Jaime Jaquez Jr. who had 16. For Boston, Jayson Tatum had a triple-double with 24 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists, as he was one of six players on the team to be in double-digits.

Here are three takeaways from the Heat’s Game 1 loss to the Celtics to give them a 0-1 series deficit heading into the next game which will be on Wednesday:

A rough beginning to the first half

The start of the game began like how everybody thought it would, but possibly worst as Boston started the game on a 14-0 run as they were heating up while the Heat themselves were cool from the start. It wasn’t until Adebayo started the scoring for Miami with a jumper that gave the team some life after a degrading beginning.

What truly separated the Celtics from Miami early was their three-point shooting as they made six of them compared to the Heat’s one. However, the Heat only trailed by five going into the second period even though it felt like they were out of the game, but it was their effectiveness in the paint that kept them in it as they were seven of 10 in the restricted area.

In the second quarter, Boston would build on their lead taking a 15-point one into halftime where Miami’s flaws were exposed. Some of these flaws aren’t really the faults of them as they continue to deal with injuries losing their main star in Jimmy Butler who is out for several weeks with an MCL sprain, plus Terry Rozier who will miss the start of the series.

While Adebayo was really good on the offensive side, he needed a player to compliment him to be explosive on that end of the floor, which is crucial when facing a near-perfect Celtics team. Herro should have been the player to do it but struggled in the first half as he only scored five points off of making two of nine attempts from the field. Another option could be Jaquez who is filling in the role desperately missed by Butler and had eight points at halftime.

Second half was all Celtics as Heat fell flat

It was more of the same for Boston as Miami were like deer in the headlights as the Celtics continued to make shots at a ridiculous pace with the Heat unable to match or at least compete. While they didn’t score 34 like the second period, the Celtics would score 31 in the third and held the Butler-less group to their worst quarter with 14 points.

The home team has statistically been one of the best teams of all time, especially in point differential as it was on display Sunday afternoon. Down Butler and Rozier, Miami had to play a near-perfect game with little to no mistakes as they had a small margin of error.

However, they played sloppy mixing with a poor shooting performance as through three quarters, Miami shot under 40 percent from the field and 17.9 percent from three-point range, making only five out of 28 attempts. Boston would go up 32 points going into the fourth and never looked back, despite Miami going on a bit of a run to bring the deficit, but they ran away with this one giving Miami a 0-1 series deficit.

Butler, Rozier sorely missed plus what to fix in Game 2

Out of all the concerns from the Game 1 loss, it was the reaffirmation that the Heat’s loss of major firepower would lead to struggles. Butler is the main engine that gets the offense going and Rozier is an explosive shot creator that could spark runs, which was very much so needed Sunday.

As said before, Herro was relied on to have a great performance in this series, but was mostly radio silent in Game 1 as he finished with 11 points, only making four of 11 attempts from the field.

In terms of what to fix in the hopes of making it competitive for Game 2, the Heat need to deliver on their promise and dirty up the contest. Putting the game in the mud has delivered a ton of wins for Miami in the past, especially against the Celtics in the past playoff matchups, but they let the opponents play to their strengths and ran away with the game.

Even with the cards stacked against them, if they want a chance, albeit slim, in the series, they have to muck up the outing. However, it doesn’t mean they can’t be lacking on offense, but it was a poor shooting this afternoon as they shot 46.9 percent from the field and made 12 three-pointers (five going into the fourth) out of 37 attempts.

Time is not on their side as if Miami can’t adapt in Game 2, it could be a quick series.