If the Boston Celtics walked off the parquet floor at TD Garden on Wednesday night feeling they had experienced that same type of deflating defeat to the Miami Heat before, it is because they had.
Boston’s Game 1 loss to the Heat in this year’s Eastern Conference finals was striking for many reasons, but also due to the parallels it had to the series-opening loss the Celtics suffered to Miami Heat on the same stage exactly a year to the date.
In Game 1 of the 2022 conference finals, the Celtics let a 13-point lead slip away to lose to the Heat, just as they did on their home floor only a few days after handing out a beat down of the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 7. But the similarities go way deeper than that.
To Joe Mazzulla’s happiness, the Celtics won three out of four quarters in both contests, but the third quarter was an abject disaster each time and proved to be the difference-maker. It’s tough trying to decipher which third quarter was worse. Last year, the Heat outscored the Celtics, 39-14, in the stanza while on Wednesday Miami torched Boston yet again immediately after the break by netting 46 points and holding the Celtics to 25.
And not that it is surprising, but Heat star Jimmy Butler continues to own the Celtics. He poured in 41 points to go along with nine rebounds, five assists, four steals and three blocks to kick off the 2022 best-of-seven series. He delivered a similar stat line to put the Heat up 1-0 again, scoring 35 points while also registering five rebounds, seven assists and six steals.
It’s incredible that both Game 1s followed a similar storyline. And while the Celtics have to dig themselves out of a hole, they certainly wouldn’t be upset if the series as whole plays out like it did last year with them getting by the Heat and returning to the NBA Finals.
