Two best words in sports: game 7?

Wrong, it’s “Caleb Martin.”

History was indeed made tonight, and it’s that an 8 seed is walking into the NBA Finals.

Takeaways…

#1: Heat come out with a defensive plan.

As the Heat walk into TD Garden in game 7, they needed something from their three best players: Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, and Erik Spoelstra. And Spo set those other two up early. Jayson Tatum got hurt to start this game, leaving him off ball many possessions. The Heat’s defense was full-out soft switching every screen, as they were daring them to work through the mismatches. Boston would force passes, Miami would swarm passing lanes, and turnovers were forced. A 15 point first quarter for this Celtics team that started the year with a historic offense? Yeah, it was needed. They shifted into the 2-3 zone to start the second quarter, and it was just as successful by forcing the shots they wanted. Miami’s defense came to play early.

#2: The role guys “rolling” with the punches.

As I mention the shift into zone in that second quarter, that was formed around the role guys beginning with new rotation piece Haywood Highsmith. He forced an immediate turnover and got a bucket on the other end. The offense took control from there with a Kyle Lowry pull-up, Duncan Robinson back-cuts, and well, Caleb Martin everything. This series started with Martin reacting to what the Celtics threw at him, and now they’re reacting to the combos he’s throwing at them. Capitalizing on spot-ups, controlling the pace, and simply hitting tough iso shots that he self creates. Just big time stuff in that first half. He also was rebounding at an extremely high level, which was needed due to the soft switching. It may flatten things out, but you are vulnerable on offensive boards following mismatches. Martin continues to step up.

#3: The first half Jimmy Butler ride.

Walking into this game, the expectation was clear across the board: Jimmy Butler has to set the tone for this game to matter. And well, he didn’t set the tone…and it didn’t matter. He was still utilizing that pump fake and wasn’t getting to his spots, but as I said before, the defense stepping up put them in a position to stay in it. As for Butler, he drove baseline mid-way through that first quarter, stopped before the right box, and pulled right into the jumper. That was the adjustment, yet he wasn’t consistently in that mind frame. Shortly after, he mixed in a hesi into an attack instead of the shot fake, which was another good sign. But with all of that said, his offensive first half was not loud or controlled by any means. It was a roller coaster depending on the possession, but the offense was still extremely smooth in the half-court. And to start the third, we entered “setting the tone” Butler time. An immediate pull-up three into a catch and attack for a floater, forcing a Celtics timeout. Yeah, an experience.

#4: Bam Adebayo seeing flashbacks…

As the Celtics made their third quarter run with the Heat’s offense running out of gas seemingly, the blame rested on an action revolving around their two stars. Butler-Adebayo pick and roll, Boston switches it with length on Butler and mismatch on Bam, and down went production. Butler continued to have trouble getting to those spots at all, and well, they began relying on the weakness to attack: Bam Adebayo. This was a flashback of exactly a year ago in game 7, as Boston forced Bam to put his back to the basket. So Miami went to it in the third, and he couldn’t convert: again and again. The fall back plan ended up being the role guys yet again, but that’s a problem that can’t be overlooked. Teams now have the book on him with the correct personnel with this exact coverage, and man can it hurt the offense if Martin isn’t casually converted into Michael Jordan 2.0 at the same time.

#5: Fourth quarter business…onto the NBA Finals.

My Butler take heading all the way into game 7: “setting a tone.” And well, he didn’t do it to start the game, but he did it to start the fourth. After the Martin heroics push the lead, Butler wasn’t letting his group let up. Knocks down a middy, pokes the ball free for the steal, and flows right into a transition dunk. Good punch. To sustain the distance, Duncan Robinson hits a leaning left corner triple, Kyle Lowry buries a late shot clock pull-up heave, and Bam Adebayo found a flow. All of a sudden, the tides were turning. With 6 minutes left, Robinson dives for another back-cut with the dish from Bam, and the Heat now lead 94-73 in that building. The 8 seeded Miami Heat have found themselves in the NBA Finals. All the talk about witnessing history tonight, and we did just that. Defeating the odds of a momentum filled Celtics team and landing themselves at their final destination. History indeed.

Back to Miami we go.

An embarrassing performance in game 5 by the Heat puts some pressure on them in game 6 at the Kaseya Center.

But first, we need to address tonight:

Some takeaways….

#1: Butler, Bam, Lowry: let’s talk…

Jimmy Butler: 2 for 7 from the field. Bam Adebayo: 3 for 9 from the field with 4 turnovers. Kyle Lowry: 3 turnovers. Those were some of the key first half numbers in a pivotal game 5 in TD Garden. Their best players were not their best players, and it’s really that simple. Butler has been a tone setter for a while for this team, and he completely looked out of it and disjointed. Plus he’s what makes this entire Heat offense run at the moment, so if he doesn’t have it, they won’t have it. Bam Adebayo was just as careless with the basketball as humanly possible, continually bringing the ball down to the floor for easy strips. He just was totally out of sorts and matchups were stumping him. And lastly, in a game without any ball-handler, they needed a big one from Kyle Lowry. Those 3 turnovers didn’t even tell the story, since his lack of aggression on pull-ups was major. A tough first half but harder to look past these 3 over the first 24 minutes.

#2: Turnovers and offensive rebounds…

To continue on that first half, the efficiency was surprisingly not the problem for the Heat’s offense, as it settled in around 50% for a majority of that time-frame. Instead, it was the turnover problem behind Adebayo and Lowry. They couldn’t seem to gain control to get into their usual actions, and that quickly bled into the defense much like in game 4. Bad shots equal an inability to settle into half-court defense. That is how the Celtics made their initial three point punch to start the game, as they played at a much faster pace. Now down to the defensive end, the offensive boards kept getting the Celtics extra and better looks from deep. When a team has that many extra opportunities, especially at home when playing into the crowd, it just hurts. Those two elements tied in very closely.

#3: Caleb Martin and Duncan Robinson trying to hold it together.

To get away from what went wrong for a second, let’s talk about the guys who kept them in the mix for large stretches. Duncan Robinson and Caleb Martin had close to half of Miami’s first half points, which says a lot. Martin continues to be the stable piece of this team, as he just keeps reacting to his individual defender. Taking triples, manipulating close-outs into attacks, and playing as strong on-ball as he possibly could. Duncan Robinson also found a rhythm inside in a certain lineup around 4 defenders, Butler-Martin-Highsmith-Bam, since the back-cut seemed to still be alive. Robinson was going to be crucial for this offense without the abundance of guards, since his action with Bam is a walking, living hub in the half-court. They played their role to perfection, yet still trailed by 17 heading into the third quarter.

#4: Two primary adjustments on the Celtics side.

So, as I sit here talking about the players for Miami not playing at the level that you would hope, the next question we should pose is ‘why is it happening?’ And well, I have some thoughts. Two main adjustments have been made by Boston, and the first one pertains to Jimmy Butler. It’s nothing matchup wise since he’s still getting the same switches, but instead the ways they’re reacting to him on-ball. They are not biting on pump fakes at all from him. He relies on positional shots after getting to his spots, and he usually manipulates his defender in the mid-range by getting them out of position. Tonight, they weren’t budging. Staying down on shot fakes was a clear focus. Now the second adjustment was even clearer, and it surrounded Bam Adebayo. Something they’ve done going back to last year is give up “mismatches” for him down low, due to the fact they want him to post-up. They feel that doesn’t equal good offense for Miami, and they’re probably right with his discomfort with his back to the basket. They’ll just send some help, knowing he will probably bring the ball low as I mentioned at the top of this piece. They would swipe and bother him, leading to all the turnovers. Boston adjusted and got to Miami. Now Spo and company needs to throw a haymaker back.

#5: So, what’s next?

All eyes on Saturday night. From up 3-0 to up 3-2, feels like a major chunk of this season comes down to taking care of business in their home building in game 6. The Heat desperately need to re-group after what we saw in game 5, which was a team with no identity and zero control or comfort on either end. They looked lost, and that needs to change. Playing into the momentum of a home crowd could help that, but they simply need their best guys to be just that. Not just Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, but Erik Spoelstra as well. If the Heat want to win, it’s probably going to need to be an Erik Spoelstra masterclass. Adjustments will need to be flying, and that started tonight by playing Haywood Highsmith. Yet offensively, they need a new wrinkle in the half-court, and Spoelstra has continually showed in the past he holds something back. We will see what that is, but those three headlining pieces are going to need to mutually come to play in 48 hours.

The Miami Heat walk into game 2 in TD Garden, and steal yet another one.

Grant Williams pokes the bear, in Jimmy Butler, and it all went downhill from there.

Heat up 2-0.

My takeaways:

#1: Caleb Martin continues his “close-out reading masterclass” in that first half.

I went into it deeply after game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, but the role of Caleb Martin has been cut to as simple as can be. When Butler and Adebayo get doubled, be ready to pull as you are the guy they will help off of. If there’s a strong close-out, make the read and utilize your rim pressure. He’s been doing both at an incredibly high level. Looking at the first half of this game, the offense for the Heat was far from pretty, yet Martin actually stabilized it in that second quarter. Celtics give their big punch, and Martin starts getting comfortable: baseline jumper, spot-up, pump-fake and lay-in. Rinse and repeat. Let me just say, once he hits one early like he did tonight, he has you right where he wants you. He can play to his two biggest strengths against a close-out: his quick first step and attacking the high foot of his defender.

#2: Early offense: Duncan Robinson’s movement and cutting.

When dissecting some of the outer areas of the Heat’s first half, Duncan Robinson was a big part of it. The minutes distribution for Robinson and Max Strus was much different than usual, as each shooter essentially had their own quarter. Strus had a good start, but Robinson made an impact in a very unconventional way. For the first 3 minutes or so, he only had 1 field goal attempt and no actions were being run for him. On the film side, the matchup isn’t the greatest for him with the way they can flatten him with switches. So on those expected switches, he started playing the back slots with slick cuts and quick decisions. Bam Adebayo found him multiple times in that range, as the defender who is top locking his incoming hand-off, now tries to recover on his back with a layup on the way. That’s when the handoffs and pick and rolls began to work. Sometimes it’s not an adjustment, it’s just shifting a defender around a bit. Robinson did that in the second quarter.

#3: Taming the turnovers and pace watch.

I’ve heard some conversations on the national stage hinting at Miami’s game 1 win having a lot to do with pace. That could partly be true, but we also can’t mix up fast pace with early clock shots. We saw more of the latter with Miami in these playoffs, but I’m not so sure the formal consistently fits them. For example, when Boston made that second quarter 19-2 run, my main takeaway from a Heat perspective was that Kyle Lowry needed to settle them. The Celtics buckets were feeding off the crowd, running the break, and waiting for unfortunate Miami turnovers. Butler ended up coming in early, the game was slowed down, and the Heat gained back control. Pace can be increased for the obvious reasons like 2-on-1’s, Butler, Martin, or Bam using their athleticism, or Love full court dimes, but this series feels to be much more reliant on playing in the half-court and out of the Celtics game. Also the reason I said Lowry was my series X-Factor. Not just due to the scoring openings from game 1, but for the traditional point guard play.

#4: Jayson Tatum finding his 1-on-1 rhythm, so what does Miami do next?

Pretty much when Jayson Tatum had the ball in his hands, good shots were the result as he found a major isolation rhythm on both his attacks and swift step backs. As for the stretches where he slots off the ball, you could tell that Miami loves it. No more movement while the Heat can mix up more changes in their usual coverages. But as on-ball Tatum made a more frequent appearance, what do the Heat do next? Either allow him to cook and cut off the other outlets, which I never enjoy, or find a counter to throw things out of rhythm. Sort of like the way they went at Jalen Brunson, except it’s a dangerous game to play with the major difference between the Knicks and Celtics when comparing the rest of the roster. Rely on rotations and try to get the ball out of Tatum’s hands early would be a good idea, especially since if he falls in love with tough shots from deep, you live with it. Defensive adjustments are coming, since game 3 is usually when we see the biggest shift for Spoelstra.

#5: Down the stretch…

As the Celtics held a double digit lead throughout the starts of the fourth, Caleb Martin kept doing his thing: any time Boston made a run, he would swing things right back. The other guy I discussed in this piece, Duncan Robinson, held things down before Butler re-entered in the fourth. A couple of threes put Miami in a much more comfortable situation. 6 point game, 7:40 to go. Jimmy Butler and Grant Williams get into it following a Butler and-1, which felt like an interesting choice. Butler isn’t afraid to talk when he’s down. Next possession down, Butler takes Williams to the cup, easy floater. The Heat also kept leaning into their 3 man actions with Adebayo at the helm. Adebayo’s high assist number in game 2 would tell you that alone, but they kept getting great looks out of a simply back-screen or pindown for either a lay-in or three. The late game offense then turned into Jimmy Butler taking Williams one-on-one like clockwork, back to back possessions and the Heat are up 2. Under a minute to go in a 3 point game, Adebayo gets an offensive rebound for a putback to put the lead at 5. Tatum gets fouled on a three on the other end immediately after, dropping the deficit right back. So who does Miami put the ball in the hands of with the game on the line? Butler, right? Wrong, Vincent holds it, flows into a step back for the most important bucket of the night. A couple free throws later, the Heat take a 2-0 lead…

It wasn’t the prettiest basketball game of all time, but it was pretty typical Heat-Knicks.

They come up with the win, and the Heat are off to yet another Eastern Conference Finals.

Some takeaways from game 6…

#1: Bam Adebayo steps up in a major way.

Walking into this game 6, the Heat knew they needed an early punch in this game offensively from somebody, mostly focusing on that guy being no other than Jimmy Butler. He had a decent first quarter, but the true X-Factor was Bam Adebayo who came out absolutely firing. A 17 point first half, and it came in a multitude of ways. Elbow catches and jumpers, rim runs for crafty dunks, and pure strength in the low post. That last one is what set the tone, since he wasn’t afraid to use some body against both Mitchell Robinson and Isaiah Hartenstein. The energy shifted from there, as he made highlight plays on both ends to spark the group who went down 14 in that first quarter. He stepped up in a major way tonight, and saved it from slipping.

#2: Dealing with Jalen Brunson..

As much as I talked about Adebayo’s hot first half, Jalen Brunson was the guy who really took individual control in the opening 24 minutes. He had a 22 point first half, but the bigger key was the way Miami didn’t really seem to have an answer to his early punches. The Heat were actually switching up match-ups by possession, flipping his time with Gabe Vincent and Jimmy Butler to start. The only issue was that he was mostly operating against one of them at a team, meaning that Miami probably needed to send more doubles his way. He got comfortable, got off some good shots, and the Heat pretty much said they would just hold everybody else off for the remainder of the half. That somehow clawed them to a 1 point lead at the midway point.

#3: Three-point shooting still reflecting regular season.

As we watched that Milwaukee Bucks series and kept an eye on the Heat’s playoff three point shooting landing them in the 1 spot of that category, it was clear things were odd in the department of logical trends. We’ve seen the Heat decline back down to 31% across this series, and found themselves below 17% at half. Yet while it’s a great addition to their offensive blend that they most certainly need, they don’t seem as reliant on it as they once were during the regular season. That’s probably the most crucial part of it that makes them somewhat confident in the offense moving forward. High usage Butler and Bam obviously leans in that direction already, but it’s just been one of the oddest things to monitor throughout this season.

#4: Jimmy Butler watch: the ankle and the doubles.

All eyes have been on Jimmy Butler after that game 5, mostly since there’s been curiosity looming on how his ankle is feeling at the moment. Part of it is Quentin Grimes doing a good job on him, and the other part is he lacks that continued push in that post to overpower his opponent. That screams some soreness on the ankle, but hey that’s not up to me to guess. The part I do know about is the doubles Butler is seeing on a consistent basis. Mid-post, he’s seeing that second guy. Low-post, he’s possibly seeing a third guy. Catch on either wing, a Knicks big is aggressive sprinting to make him give it up. The respect levels were at an insane high, but the Heat’s primary option was going to be needed. The usual counter: middle PnR eliminates as strong of doubles. But now things loop back to the ankle, since those restrictions may hold that back.

#5: The fourth quarter…

The first 4 minutes of this quarter was ugly. Scott Foster made more highlight plays than the Knicks and Heat combined. Looking a little physical on one end down low, and a screeching whistle reoccurring on the opposing baseline. With over 7 minutes to go, Adebayo hits a needed elbow jumper off the inbound to extend it to 3. The next time down, Butler sees another double, ball moves to the opposite corner, Vincent drives and kicks, Strus top of the key triple. 82-76, 6:56 to go. The free throw frenzy continued throughout the quarter for the Knicks, really cutting any momentum Miami tried to hold. Butler and-1’s, Lowry flip shots, and more. The Heat’s clutch time file from the regular season felt like it was building up to this point. Knicks call timeout with 3:24 left, trailing by 6. Right away, Brunson hits the pull-up triple. Butler comes back with a pull-up jumper, Lowry strips it on other end, and Strus gets fouled at the rim as they push some pace. 2:20 left, Heat up 6. A Vincent flagrant foul put things right back on New York’s plate, as they had a chance to tie with 20 seconds left, only down 2. Heat force the turnover, and Butler goes to the line. 2 for 2. Miami’s on their way to the Eastern Conference Finals.