Takeaways From The Miami Heat's Game 7 Loss To the Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics defeated the Miami Heat in Game 7 100-96, advancing to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010.
Here are some major takeaways from that game:
-The Celtics’ Big Three: Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart each scored 24 points while Jayson Tatum had 26. This was the second time in the series where those three scored 20 or more points altogether.
-Tyler Herro had another quiet night: Herro, who averaged just nine points in the series, was held scoreless for the first time in the playoffs. He only attempted two shots and just one three-pointer.
-Jimmy Butler gets help: Butler, who scored 35 points, got help from his other starters. Bam Adebayo had 25 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists. Kyle Lowry chalked up 15 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two steals, and one block.
-The Heat’s poor 3-point shooting: The Heat, who averaged 10 three-pointers in the playoffs, were held to just six 3-pointers while attempting 30.
-Keep the Heat in the paint: The Heat averaged 44 points in the paint in the playoffs but the Celtics forced the Heat to score 56 points in the paint.
-The Celtics’ fastbreak points: The Celtics, who average 13 fastbreak points, scored 46 fastbreak points.
-Take away the Heat’s second-chance points: The Celtics limited the Heat to just nine second-chance points. In the playoffs, the Heat averaged 14 second-chance points.
Cory Nelson is a contributor to Inside The Heat. He attended Northern Virginia Community College. He can be reached at corymckenzienelson@hotmail.com or follow him on Twitter @CKenzyNelson