It’s been a roller coaster ride for the Boston Celtics over their first three games in the NBA’s bubble. They kicked things off with a valiant effort against Milwaukee (bar Jayson Tatum‘s two-for-18 outing from the field), but it wasn’t enough. The Eastern Conference’s top seed landed a 119-112 victory, Tatum paid a visit to the barbershop, and the Celtics were ready to move on.
They came out on fire in the next game, taking a 19-point lead at halftime over Damian Lillard and the Blazers. And although Boston wound up surviving, things got dicey in the second half as Portland dropped 76 points. The young tandem of Tatum and Jaylen Brown were Boston’s bright spots. Tatum revived himself to the tune of 34 points, eight assists, and four boards on 11-for-22 shooting. Brown added 30 points and six rebounds and buried six of eight attempts from three-point land.
Celtics fans were unsure what to make of this up-and-down performance, but Boston was in a valley yet again on Tuesday against Miami. A furious rally at the end of the game including a wild three from Kemba Walker helped the Celtics only lose by five, but in reality, this one was never close. The Jimmy Butler-less heat outclassed Boston on both sides and drew a considerable amount of fouls. To add salt to the wound, this was Miami’s second game of a back-to-back affair.
Tatum and Brown both cooled off from their last performance. They still combined for 41 points, but that didn’t cut it with Boston’s bench being outscored 43-24. Kemba Walker saw his highest amount of minutes since the season resumed, playing for 27. He and Gordon Hayward tied for Boston’s third-highest scorers at 15 apiece. Walker injected some energy into Boston’s fourth-quarter rally with some buzzer-beating antics:
🚨 @KembaWalker FROM THE LOGO 🚨 https://t.co/ZKdpYZyxMB
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) August 5, 2020
Leading the way for Miami was Bam Adebayo, who managed himself 18 attempts from the charity stripe. He ended with 21 points and 12 boards while Duncan Robinson utilized a contrasting strategy to score his 21 points. Robinson made five threes and shot six-for-10 from the field.
As a team, the positives begin and end with rebounding for the Celtics. They had a plus-three advantage on the boards but fell behind in every other major statistic. Miami had more assists, blocks, and steals, as well as fewer turnovers and fouls. More importantly, this game had a huge impact on the race for the No. 3 seed. Miami has now climbed to 1.5 games behind the Celtics, with both teams having five games left to play.
Next up for the Celtics: the horridly undermanned Brooklyn Nets at 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 5. While Boston enters as the favorite, the Nets should not be underestimated as they handed the top-seeded Bucks a 119-116 loss in their last game.
