Miami Heat get embarrassed as the Celtics take care of business and tie the series

From the start this game had bad night written all over it. So you get an idea, the Miami Heat had one point eight minutes into the game. They would go on to lose this game 102-82 to tie the series at 2-2, and honestly final score doesn’t really show the dominance the Boston Celtics had on the Heat this entire game.

The entire starting unit deserves a ton of blame as they just came out completely flat and missed their first 14 shots of this game. Just unacceptable effort as they looked comfortable with getting just one game in Boston. Not the type of approach you would expect from an organization that prides itself on its work ethic and toughness. Victor Oladipo was easily the most impactful player in this game and he actually scored more points than the entire starting unit combined! Typing that just leaves a nasty taste in my mouth.

Jimmy Butler has his worst game of the playoffs with just six points on 3-of-14 shooting, seven rebounds, one assist and was a -30. Max Strus had the worst game of his career it feels as he laid a completely egg with zero points on 0-of-7 shooting and a team worst -33. Bam was back to his passive self shooting just five times and finishing with nine points, six rebounds, two assists and three turnovers. Kyle Lowry gave us nothing as well with just three points and two assists. PJ Tucker was also a non-factor as the length on the Celtics made him uncomfortable. I don’t understand how this group of players managed by this coaching staff could come out in a game like this and put up such a flat effort.

Jayson Tatum had his bounce back game with 31 points on 8-of-16 shooting and 14-of-16 from the free throw line to go with eight rebounds, five assists, two blocks and was a team high +37. Al Horford didn't pad the stat sheet, but his presence on the defensive end was something to watch. He had 13 boards and four blocks. Derrick White returned after the birth of this child and replaced the injured Marcus Smart in the starting line up and had his best game of the series with 13 points, eight rebounds, six assists, three steals and a block. Robert Williams was his usual productive self as well with 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting, nine rebounds and two blocks. Just an all-around team effort from the Celtics and they deserved this victory.

There weren't a lot of positive notes from this game. The bench unit certainly did what they were supposed to do with Tyler Herro out for this game and Oladipo was the one that led the way. At one point he had 18 of Miami's 28 points. He wasn't afraid of having the ball in his hands and was consistently making things happen, but as we've seen time and time again, you can't beat the Celtics with just one player. They just continued to attack the Heat's defense and wither them done. Was the officiating terrible? Yes. However, the defense from Miami was not at the level it needed to be to compete either. Which isn't really surprising because this team has shown us that when they aren't making shots they won't be organized on the other end.

Something that has been a big issue for Miami in this series is how much bigger Boston is than them. The Heat got out rebounded 60-39 and have to work extra hard on every defensive possession in order to secure the rebound. That will ultimately lead to struggles on the offensive side, which was obviously the main issue in today's game. I can go into X's and O's about how we weren't getting separation or getting any off ball movement, but the fact that there was no force in anyone's game today. Bam looked nothing like the player we saw in Game 3 and you can't tell me it has anything to do with Williams returning to the lineup. He just wasn't attacking and was rewarding the Celtics for the passive defense on him. Jimmy clearly looks like he's dealing with an injury as he hasn't looked right since the start of Game 3. I think what hurts the most about this annihilation is that the Celtics didn't even play that well. They shot just 39.7% from the field and 23.5% from three, but they were able to get to the line 38 times compared to Miami's 14. That's now a 68 to 28 disparity in free throws attempted between Games 3 and 4. Guess the league was trying to send a message and it has been heard.

In the end, no matter how bad this game looked the Miami Heat did what they were supposed to do and won a game in Boston to reclaim home court advantage in this series. Now they will be heading back to Miami for Game 5 at the FTX Arena. I have faith that this team will come out in Miami with a greater effort, but there needs to be a sense of urgency as the series shifts to South Beach.