Celtics-Heat Player Grades: Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown Dominate Miami in Win

Game Flow
Reasons Why The Celtics Won
Jayson Tatum did everything
They couldn't miss in the first quarter
They turned up their defense
Jaylen Brown made up for his stinker in Atlanta
Player Grades

The Celtics offense had one of their best quarters ever to start the game, Jayson Tatum is somehow, inexplicably, already good enough to put up a monster triple-double, and Jaylen Brown is a scoring machine. Miami made a run, but Boston came away with a win and a season sweep of a potential first round opponent, 147-129.

Box Score

Game Flow

The opening minutes of the game were Bam Adebayo and Jaylen Brown trading buckets. Brown scored Boston’s first 11 points and both teams shot really well to play even over the first six minutes. The Celtics fouled too much and it stayed close, but Sam Hauser got cooking and Boston whipped off a 13-0 run. Hauser ended up 5-5 from three in the quarter, the Celtics were 11-15, and the run extended to 24-3 as Boston took a mind-boggling 53-33 lead heading into the second quarter.

The lead touched 25 as things settled down some, but Tatum kept up the pressure and the defense did a good job forcing misses and getting in transition. The offense did cool off though, and they were able to cut the Boston lead to 15. Derrick White helped the Celtics recover and close the quarter on an 8-0 run and go into halftime up 23.

Brown’s heater continued into the third and it got up to 27, but another Heat run cut it to 18 five minutes into the quarter, but that was short-lived as Brown’s onslaught continued and pushed the lead back out to 22. But Miami went on a three-point binge, hitting six in three-and-a-half minutes to cut the lead to 10 going into the fourth.

Miami got it to nine but Tatum helped fuel a 7-0 run to quickly make it 16. Brown checked back in and helped get it to 19. Tatum locked up his first triple-double of the season, Brown got to 40 points, and the Celtics were never really threatened the rest of the way.

Reasons Why The Celtics Won

Jayson Tatum did everything

The answer to your question is no, I don’t know how he’s doing this. It doesn’t make any sense. He is 323 days removed from Achilles surgery. He shouldn’t be this good already.

But he is, so we’re going to roll with it. The Heat threw a zone at Boston and Tatum carved it up, feasting on the space to score and find teammates. He grabbed 18 rebounds, one off his career high, he dished 11 assists, and he scored 25 points. He also got his turns switched onto Bam Adebayo, so he really contributed in all phases of the game.

They couldn't miss in the first quarter

It had to be demoralizing for Miami to put up 33 points and be down 20 after the first quarter. The Celtics scored 53 points on 11-15 shooting from three, 71.4% shooting overall, and they held Miami to 37.5% shooting. Miami had their own 11 three-point quarter, but by then the Celtics had built a big enough lead that it didn’t matter quite as much. The gap in the third was also not quite as bad as the gap in the first, so the Celtics managed to get through it just fine.

They turned up their defense

This applies more to the first half, especially the first quarter when they gave up 30 points through the first eight minutes but then three points through the next four minutes. They only allowed 24 in the second quarter, so if you stretch that into 27 points allowed over 16 minutes, now we’re talking about the defense stepping up in a big way.

Also Neemias Queta’s defense on Bam Adebayo was really nice. It might have been his most disciplined defensive game of the season.

Jaylen Brown made up for his stinker in Atlanta

Brown was patient and in control for most of the night. I can only think of a couple of bad shots in the flow of the game, and one was a fling to the rim because he thought he was fouled.

“The care factor that he has, the competitiveness that he has, he's just going to come back and respond,” Mazzulla said. “But really it was the play-making. He saw the play in front of him every single time, made the right read when he had the ball and took advantage of opportunities and constantly drew two-on-ones and made the right play.”

Player Grades

Jayson Tatum: A+ (25 points, 18 rebounds, 11 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers)

The efficiency is still not there, but the sheer volume of rebounds, plus two steals and only two turnovers make this an A+ game. Tatum is defying the concept of “there’s no such thing as more than 100%.” He looks to be 100% right now, but there's room for him to grow.

Jaylen Brown: A+ (43 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 turnover)

He didn’t try to dominate this game like he did the one in Atlanta. He let plays develop and he took what was there. The turnovers tell that story pretty well, because his six against the Hawks proved how much he was forcing it and the one against Miami showed that he didn’t try to do too much.

I love that the result of this game reinforces the right approach.

Neemias Queta: A+ (16 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks)

Mazzulla touted Queta’s discipline after the game and I couldn't agree more. Queta was in the right spots and the right time, he didn’t bite on Bam Adebayo’s fakes, and he was mostly able to defend without fouling. He grabbed some tough rebounds and then had some impressive finishes around the rim.

He finished a game-high +28

Sam Hauser: A (23 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block)

I thought he was on his way to a Celtics record for three-pointers, but he maintained a nice level of discipline himself. He didn't start forcing everything up because he was on fire. He took what was there and attacked closeouts by stepping into clean looks from mid-range. He was 5-7 from three, but 4-4 from two.

Payton Pritchard: A- (14 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds)

He had a good game and hit a few threes, and a couple of timely ones during Heat runs.

Baylor Scheierman: B+ (8 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists)

Moved the ball well and hit some open looks.

Derrick White: B (6 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block)

His finish to the end of the second quarter was actually pretty important. He fueled an 8-0 Boston response to Miami chipping away at the Celtics lead. The game didn’t need scoring from White, so he did other things.

Luka Garza: B (12 points 2 rebounds)

His three-pointers were part of the big barrage that helped build the huge Celtics lead.