Celtics bounce back in 129-116 win over Miami Heat



The Celtics brought the heat in the fourth quarter to get back on track. Derrick White and Jaylen Brown both scored 30, but the bench came through when they were needed most to push them over the edge and get back in the win column. 

It was a tightly contested first half, tied at 58, with neither team playing at their best. Derrick White had 19 points and 3 blocks and was the only Celtic in double figures. The threes were not falling early, so they had to change it up, scoring 26 points in the paint and making 9/10 free throws.

The Heat took 17 more shots than the Celtics but still made fewer shots. They managed to stay in the game with 11 offensive rebounds for 17 second-chance points and 10 made three-pointers. 

Jaylen Brown took over in the third, scoring 15 of the 34 points. Brown got to his spots much cleaner and was getting to the free throw line at will. The Heat responded in similar fashion, scoring 31 points off the back of three's and free throws. Heading into the fourth, the Celtics held a 92-89 lead. 

In the fourth quarter, the Celtics came out swinging, hitting their first 6 threes and quickly taking a double-digit lead that they never relinquished. Derrick White and Jaylen Brown both hit multiple threes, but the real hero was Sam Hauser, shooting 4/5 from three in the fourth. The Celtics outscored the Heat 37-27, cruising to a 129-116 victory, snapping a 2-game skid. 

The good 

Derrick White was the best player on the floor all night, and it appears he may be back to his old self. White scored 33 points, made 9/14 threes, and recorded 4 blocks. 

After a slow start in the first half, Jaylen Brown took over in the second half, leading the team in scoring with 24 points on 7/11 shooting and making 8/9 free throws. Brown's ability to get to the free throw line was huge for the Celtics, as he took nearly half the team's free throws, getting easy points when the three-pointers were not falling. 

The bench unit came up big, combining for 41 points. In the second half specifically, Anfernee Simons and Sam Hauser combined for 22 points, shooting 8/11 from the floor and 6/9 from three. Both players had been in a recent shooting slump, and it appears they shot themselves out of it. 

The bad

Payton Pritchard and Jordan Walsh were net negatives all night, and Joe Mazzulla saw it early on, giving more minutes to three players on the bench. The pair totaled just 15 points on 4/14 shooting from the floor and 2/12 from three. 

The defensive rebounding was horrific all night, allowing 17 offensive rebounds for 24 second-chance points. With the small-ball lineup Joe Mazzulla has run, it has brought some benefits in the shooting and transition scoring, but its downside has been defensive rebounding. Because of this, the Heat took 20 more shots but simply failed to capitalize, making 4 fewer shots than the Celtics. 

Conclusion

The Celtics were able to respond in a big way, in large part due to the bench unit. They catupolted a hot start in the fourth quarter, giving the Celtics a big lead to help them close out the game and get back into the win column. They will travel to Toronto on the second night of a back-to-back with a chance to retake the third seed in the Eastern Conference. 

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