MIAMI — After his team squandered an opportunity to earn a spot in the NBA Finals in front of their home crowd, Jimmy Butler walked into his post-game press conference without the world paying any attention.
Before he answered any questions, he leaned into the microphone on the stage and sang the collected media for a few moments.
“Everything’s going to be alright,” Butler sang with a slight smile on his face.
Butler saw his team lose 116-99 to the Celtics in Game 4 of a series that would have ended in a sweep on Tuesday night. How could he be so quiet?
After leading by six points in the first half, the Heat won 66-43 in the second half as they collapsed on both sides of the field. Jason Tatum took over in the most important moments, while Miami struggled to gain any offensive power.
Sunday’s 26-point loss seemed like a slam dunk that very few teams have been able to recover from, but the Celtics found new life and managed to bring the series back to Boston with a 3-1 series deficit.
Even with history saying no team has come back from 3-0 down in the playoffs, this victory seemed like a defining moment for the Celtics. They were able to reclaim their identity as a team after looking as though they were ready to start booking vacation flights during Game 3.
So is there any concern that this will allow Boston to build enough momentum to make this series?
“No, if anything it will build momentum for us,” Butler defiantly said after the match. “Knowing we have to play with more energy. We have to play like our backs to the wall. All year, I think we’ve been better when we do things our way.”
Butler wasn’t worried. He wasn’t angry. Wasn’t disappointed.
In his view, all of the problems that cost them Game 4 could be fixed with some easy fix: play harder, don’t tip the ball, and make a few more shots.
It’s never been so simple against a team as talented as the Celtics. But it’s hard to question Butler’s confidence given how easily his team made it look like they were rolling through this East Qualifier.
However, Tuesday’s loss has added some complicating factors to a streak that looks a lot lower than it did 24 hours ago.
The biggest of these complicating factors was Tatum, who finished Game Four with 33 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.
The Heat had a chance to take control as they built a nine-point lead early in the third quarter, but Tatum found an answer and put his team on the back. Over the past two seasons, Tatum has put together some of his most memorable performances with his team facing elimination on the road. This is yet another example of him becoming a superstar as his team was on the brink of falling into abyss.
After the Heat went up the nine, Tatum dug in three straight times to pull the game back in hand, and from that point on, he was out in the running. He racked up 25 points and five assists in the second half as he mercilessly shredded the Miami defense with his shot-stopping and constant attacks on the paint.
Even with Butler doing his best to match Tatum’s offense with 20 points in the second half of his own, it wasn’t enough to remove Tatum’s grip on the game.
Tatum’s inconsistent offensive style was a huge frustration for Celtics fans and one of the main reasons this team lost 3-0 despite being considered a huge favorite by the odds makers.
But we saw this with Tatum when he has his back against the wall. He can go from looking incompetent and unprepared in the moment to bubbling hot in an instant.
In the final round, he was 1-of-14 from the field in Game 6 against the Sixers with his season on edge. Then, suddenly, he scored 16 points in the last few minutes of the game to bring the series back to Boston. In Game 7, he scored 51 points to put himself in the record books and knock Philadelphia out of the playoffs.
Eric Spoelstra is too good a coach, and Miami is too solid on defense to let in another 50-point barrage from Tatum in Game 5, but both sides know he can explode at any moment. Allowing him to regain his confidence in the second half on Tuesday could come back to bite the Heat if they don’t restore some of the defensive principles they had in place over the first three games of the series.
“Great scorers, they’ll figure that out at some point. You have to try to make it as difficult as possible,” Spoelstra said. “You don’t expect a great player like Tatum to spend several nights. You have to do things that you will get over. If the players give their A game, we’ve proven we can still win regardless. I just don’t think we (had) the necessary focus and efforts.”
The inconsistency with focus and effort stood out on the other end of the field, as Miami stumbled through a few really tough patches on offense. Turnovers and poor shot selection allowed Boston to take a big lead in the second half, which led to a bunch of open 3s and shots on the edge.
The Heat tried to play over half the field to control the tempo, but they kept making mental mistakes that allowed Boston to go the other way and create easy chances.
The Heat allowed 27 of 16 total points to be scored, with 18 of those points coming in the second half. With this increasing pace, Boston has been able to create more ocean views while Miami has been scrambling. The Celtics finished 18 of 45 from the 3-point line, which included opening the game with seven 3-pointers in the third quarter.
This is where things can get dangerous for Miami because the Celtics are hard to beat when their outside shots fall. Including playoffs, they’re an amazing 50-12 in games when they make 15+ 3-pointers. During the regular season, Golden State (54) was the only team to hit 15+3s in more games than the Celtics (53).
However, over the first three games of this series, Boston were only 31 of 106 (29.2 percent) from deep. If Game 4 is an early indication that the 3s are about to start falling for the Celtics again, it could spell trouble for Miami.
They are trying to speed it up. It’s not like it was shocking. This is also the lineup they’ve had for most of the season. Spoelstra said (it has) a lot of distance, so guys have gaps. “But we have proven that we can defend at a high level, even against powerful attacks. It takes great commitment and attacking stability as well, to be able to get into that flow.”
While Butler hasn’t been quite as dominant as he has been in all of the playoffs (29 points on 9-of-21), the stability Miami is looking for has to come from Bam Adebayo being more effective than he was in Game 4. He went from below average in the regular season to perfect in the playoffs in part because Butler And Adebayo has worked well away from each other to put pressure on opponents and create chances for others.
Adebayo’s shots don’t always fall flat, but he must remain aggressive to keep the attack flowing. This aggression hasn’t been around for the most part lately. He finished with 10 points and just five rebounds on Tuesday, and in his last two games, he attempted a total of 12 shots.
This is not good enough.
For the Heat to find the balance they’re looking for, they need a second scoring option next to Butler. Even though Caleb Martin and Gabe Vincent have been good throughout the playoffs, it’s pretty hard to call them each night. Adebayo should be more of a threat, and he admitted that after Game 4.
“I had four turnovers; I only hit the ball seven times. I missed two free throws in a row,” he said. “Next game, I have to be better.”
“We have to do this thing collectively. That’s when we’re at our best,” Spoelstra added.
As bad as it looked in the second half, Miami is still in the driver’s seat for the series. It would take Boston pulling off something that hasn’t been done in this league for the Heat not to emerge as Eastern Conference champions at the end of it all.
But Miami must avoid complacency at all costs. This Celtics team has overcome some blistering odds before, and they’re able to catch fire when they look like they’re on their last legs. However, Butler seems too unfazed after the loss to provide some confidence to his team. For anyone ready to panic, his first words on the podium were a clear message: Everything will be fine.
“We’ll listen to some music, drink some beer, have some wine,” said Butler. “At the end of the day, you fall back on your habits. How consistent are you going to be? My teammates and I are going to do the same. We’re going to smile. We’re going to be in this thing together as always.”
“And we’ll put one down the road.”
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(Photo by Jimmy Butler, Robert Williams and Grant Williams: Megan Briggs/Getty Images)