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Brian Windhorst, ESPN Senior Writer
MIAMI – The devil was born on Sunday night, such thoughts hovering in the heads and lips of detractors.
The Boston Celtics have played hundreds of memorable knockouts in their storied history, but for the foreseeable future, simply saying “Game 3” will sting without any necessary context.
To be honest, Heat Miami have a pretty decent catalog of knockout moments, but their 128-102 win to take a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals may have its own special title. Unexpected success is often the sweetest thing, and Heat and their fans have drifted with that emotion.
Miami coach Erik Spoelstra is painting his masterpiece by preparing for a place in the hard-to-claim Finals for an 8th seed, who is three minutes away. able to qualify for the knockout round, had to give up. measures to keep all emotions in.
“It’s a solid, mature and professional approach,” Spoelstra said on Sunday night, realizing that his job is now transitioning to a hugely successful management. “But we have respect, a deep respect for Boston.”
It will be fascinating for the Celtics to make “Game 3” a turning point. Letting the overwhelming frustration of being dominated and the utter humiliation trigger an angry response.
This is an incredibly talented, experienced, and expensive team that is on its way out of the post-season with an idiot. When that happens in professional sports, there’s often a blame game that requires action.
There will be a push for layoffs, deals and makeovers in Boston. It will be like a pre-flood tension dam. In just a few days and three losses, this has gone from a title-winning computer and sportsbook-favorite team to a brand in crisis.
Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck spent most of the third quarter, when his team was trailing 32-17, looking at his phone on the side bench trying to focus on whatever. something else.
Team president Brad Stevens stood outside the Celtics locker room after the game and was stunned by what he had just seen, securing the Heat for their win.
Jayson Tatumwho seven days earlier had played one of the greatest games in NBA history, setting a 51-point record in victory in the Eastern Conference semifinals at Game 7, trudging up the podium after the game in a suit. all white that he chose for this game.
Miami is, without a doubt, classy, but it came out as a misguided tenor after what happened in front of the typical “white-washed” Heat playoff crowd. It can become confident; Tatum has had some great long-distance knockouts in his career, but this is such a flat note that it’s hard to consider it a result-related symbol.
“Obviously, we’re in a difficult position,” Tatum said after suffering a 14-point anemia on the 6/18 shot. “But we just need to have a little bit of pride.”
And then there’s Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, whose game plan to take all the blame for the loss just wasn’t as effective as his strategy for the game itself.
“I just wasn’t ready to play,” Mazzulla said over and over. “I have to get them to a better place to be ready to play, and that’s my responsibility.”
Mazzulla didn’t object too much. He tried so hard to draw attention to himself and away from his team, which had played lifelessly, that his tactics were transparent.
He is learning many lessons in his first play-off as head coach, and this is another one. There is an art to being a shield — and this is not it.
There was a wave of anger from New England and growing expectations elsewhere that Mazzulla would pay the price for the 0-3 loss suffered by the Celtics. Stevens was a huge believer in Mazzulla and made the choice not only to promote him but to promote him as well. made him permanent coach mid-season.
Stevens will tell you about his first season as an NBA coach in 2013 when he made one mistake after another, some embarrassing mistakes. Like when he plotted out a line for a shot at the last second only to realize, after a timeout, to his horror, that the ball was on the end line, not the line. record.
Stevens knows when you have a rookie coach, the mistakes rookies make.
Before Game 3, if you were around the Celtics, you knew it was unlikely Mazzulla wouldn’t return next season.
After Game 3, nothing is certain.
There is a question of whether the Celtics can deliver Brown Jaylen an extension worth more than $280 million this season. His performance is terrible in this series; he is 0 of 7 from a 3-point range on Sunday and is 2 of 20 from 3 in three losses to Miami.
Before Game 3, it seemed that locking Brown, 26, was automatic; Leaving a player his age in his position under control for 5 years is good business.
After Game 3, it was human nature to wonder if the Tatum-Brown pairing was great or just very good. And considering both could soon cost over $50 million in wages per season, is just being very good really good enough?
“The movie isn’t over yet,” Brown said. “It looks ugly, but you go out, have some pride in yourself.”
This soul search can continue. It’s easy to question what happened to the Celtics’ solid defense – they were the shell of the team that reached the Finals last season – but after that, the roster kept changing, the level of effort and the inexplicable delay to Heat two star teams Jimmy the butler.
And that’s the punishment for the Celtics falling in love with this incredible fall. It will cost more than just a chance at a title. This is the type of loss that can rob a team of confidence and direction.
What has happened in the past five days for the Celtics is more than disappointing. The Heat is just crushing them. But the way it has unfolded has now become so much more.
And that could be the real legacy of Game 3.
