The Celtics Nightmare Third Quarter Might Cost Them The Eastern Conference Finals

After a stellar first half performance, the Boston Celtics were in a favorable position to even the series against the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals, only to have everything slip away from there. Brad Stevens’ team led by as many as 17 points in the first half and, at halftime, Boston led by 13 points after shooting 58 percent from the floor and holding the Heat to only 47 points in the first 24 minutes.

The third quarter was less spectacular for the Celtics, though, and the series may swing on that 12-minute period.

Broadly speaking, Game 2 was filled with runs, with Boston zooming ahead, Miami retaliating, the Celtics throwing a counterpunch and the Heat finally ending the fight at the perfect time in the fourth quarter. Still, it was the third quarter that will have Stevens shaking his head, even on a night with post-game drama, 20 unsightly turnovers and shotmaking from the Heat that was simply unavoidable.

Following the game, Stevens told the assembled media that his team “pulled apart” and “didn’t play well” in the third quarter, and that was evident in the statistical profile. Boston turned the ball over seven times in the quarter, with those giveaways leading directly to 16 of Miami’s 37 points in the period. As a result, the Celtics attempted only 12 shots in the quarter, converting only four, and Boston was blanked from beyond the three-point line.

Within the 37-17 overall margin in the quarter, the Heat put together a 15-2 run and outscored the Celtics by a 27-8 margin in the final eight minutes. Individually, Heat All-Star big man Bam Adebayo was everywhere, scoring 15 points on eight shots, and the Heat scored 37 points on 58 percent shooting. It wasn’t just Adebayo, either, as the Heat had everything going to aid in Boston’s collapse, including shot-making from Jae Crowder and Kelly Olynyk.

There were a few positive developments for the Celtics in the third quarter, including nine free throw attempts, but they were few and far between. They fouled too often (nine fouls in 12 minutes), failed to generate quality looks and, even with the caveat that Miami made some difficult attempts, the Celtics simply didn’t execute defensively in the way they have for much of their extended postseason run.

In some ways, it is unfair to isolate a single 12-minute sequence as the principal reason that a team could be eliminated from the postseason. After all, the Heat made inroads in other parts of Game 2 and, in Game 1, Boston didn’t string together a perfect performance on the way to a win. Still, it is hard to ignore the collapse-like effort from the Celtics in the third quarter on Thursday and, even in the moment, it seemed as if this was one to circle if Boston wasn’t able to recapture its first half magic and escape with a win.

Down 2-0 in a best-of-seven series, the odds are long for any team and that might be especially true in the 2020 bubble and without the benefit of home-court at any juncture. Still, Boston is fully capable of erasing a 2-0 deficit, as evidenced by just how close the first two games were against Miami. At the end of their run, though, the Celtics may find themselves lamenting a single quarter as the moment when everything slipped away, and the 20-point gap in the third quarter of Game 2 shouldn’t be forgotten when evaluating the series as a whole.