Key Moment
Were you a believer, as we headed into the Playoffs, that it’s #DifferentHere this season in Boston? If not, maybe Game 1 between the Celtics and the Heat did a bit of convincing for you.
Boston came out Sunday afternoon and destroyed the Heat while making a statement to them and to the league that this version of the Celtics is much different than last year’s version of the Celtics. As many will remember, Miami marched into TD Garden during last year’s Eastern Conference Finals and stole Games 1, 2 and 7 en route to a shocking series upset.
Not this time around.
The Celtics dominated from start to finish and pulled ahead 14-0 over the first three minutes of action. Miami called for a timeout after the first nine points, but the tone had already been set for the remainder of the afternoon. Boston went on to cruise to a 114-94 win, all while pulling ahead by as many as 34 points.
Jaylen Brown was the man who got it all started with the first five points of the night for Boston. He canned a 3-pointer on the opening possession of the game and then followed that up with a transition slam 27 seconds later.
Kristaps Porzingis followed Brown’s 5-0 spurt up with a turnaround jumper before Jayson Tatum put home a driving layup to make it 9-0 out of the gates, just 1:55 into the game. Erik Spoelstra called for a timeout in an attempt to stop the momentum, but that attempt was fruitless.
Boston forced a miss out of Miami on the ensuing possession and then scored another five straight to pull ahead 14-0. That’s all the C’s needed to plug this win into the win column, as they led by double-digits for nearly the entirety of the remainder of the game en route to a 1-0 series lead.
Key Player
Jayson Tatum did something Sunday afternoon that he has never done before. And that’s saying a lot for one of the most accomplished young players in the history of basketball.
Tatum dominated the Game 1 against the Heat while logging his first career playoff triple-double. He finished with 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, with those latter two numbers standing as the top marks of the game.
Sunday’s performance also marked Tatum’s top assist effort of the calendar year. The last time he reached 10 dimes was way back on Dec. 28 against Detroit when he also dished out 10 helpers, meaning he had not reached double-digits in that category in 2024.
You don’t have to go back quite as far to find the last time Tatum reached double-figures in the rebound department. That happened on April 1, when he also grabbed 10 boards.
The thing is, as great as Tatum has been throughout his playoff career, he had never been this good in all three categories on the very same night. Now he has, and he’s finally got a playoff triple-double to show for it.
Box Score Nuggets
- The Celtics tied their franchise playoff record with 22 made 3-pointers.
- Jayson Tatum logged his first career playoff triple-double with 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
- Six Celtics scored in double-figures, led by Tatum's 23 points.
- Boston blocked six shots, while Miami blocked just one.
- Sam Hauser (12 points) and Payton Pritchard (10 points) were great off the bench for the Celtics.
- Derrick White scored 20 points on only 10 shots.
- Bam Adebayo led the game with 24 points, while Delon Wright led all reserves with 17 off the bench for Miami.
- Wright shot a perfect 5-for-5 from long distance.
- Boston grabbed as many defensive rebounds, 34, as Miami grabbed total rebounds.
- Miami outscored Boston 44-24 in the paint.
- Boston outscored Miami 66-36 from beyond the arc.
Quote of the Night
"Take care of the ball, get the shots that we want, and don't relax. We was up [34] points or whatever, human nature can play a factor. But, playoff basketball; you can't relax until there's zero on the clock."
- Jayson Tatum on Boston's lead dropping down a bit during the fourth quarter