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Outscoring the Boston Celtics by 19 factors within the second-half, the Miami Warmth got here again from an eight level halftime deficit in Recreation 1 of the Jap Convention Finals to take an early 1-0 collection lead, inching one step nearer to reaching the NBA Finals for the second-time within the final three seasons.
Jimmy Butler has been the chief of the Warmth all 12 months lengthy and within the postseason, he has had some magical performances. Recreation 1 of this collection towards Boston was no exception, as Butler went for 41 factors on 12-19 taking pictures.
The All-Star wing additionally completed the sport with 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals and three blocks, proving that he is among the greatest all-around gamers within the league proper now.
As a crew, the Warmth shot 48.8% from the ground and it was what they did within the third quarter of this recreation that basically set the usual for this collection shifting ahead.
The Celtics had been held to only 14 factors popping out of halftime and the Warmth’s protection was far and wide, limiting Jayson Tatum’s talents to drive in direction of the rim, one thing he discovered lots of success doing within the first-half.
Boston was by no means in a position to get comfy within the second-half of this recreation till late within the fourth quarter and by then, the injury had been performed.
Marcus Good was out attributable to a foot sprain and Al Horford additionally missed this contest for the Celtics attributable to unexpectedly coming into the league’s well being and security protocols.
Each of their absences negatively affected the Celtics and now, heading into Recreation 2 on Thursday, it will likely be very attention-grabbing to see how Ime Udoka’s squad responds to what occurred on Tuesday evening in Miami.
Here’s what we realized from Recreation 1 of the Jap Convention Finals between the Boston Celtics and Miami Warmth.
If there’s one factor we’ve realized concerning the Miami Warmth all through these playoffs, it’s that Jimmy Butler elevates his recreation to new heights when there’s a championship on the road.
Through the common season, Butler was nice for the Warmth, averaging 21.4 factors, 5.9 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 1.6 steals and taking pictures 48% from the ground. He was named an All-Star for the sixth-time in his profession consequently.
Within the playoffs this 12 months, Jimmy Butler is averaging 29.8 factors, 7.7 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 2.3 steals and is taking pictures 53.5% from the ground. We noticed glimpses of Butler’s full potential within the 2020 playoffs down within the NBA Bubble when he led the Warmth to the NBA Finals and this season, he has been even higher!
On Tuesday evening in Recreation 1 of the Jap Convention Finals, the Warmth’s All-Star was incredible and he scored a complete of 41 factors towards arguably the most effective defensive crew within the league within the Boston Celtics.
Whether or not it was Grant Williams, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum or another person, it actually didn’t matter who was guarding Jimmy Butler in Recreation 1 as a result of he was in a position to get to his spots with ease and most significantly, he was in a position to management the tempo of play.
Not solely did Butler go 12-19 from the ground, a extremely environment friendly taking pictures evening, however he went 17-18 from the free-throw line and was in a position to take over this recreation within the third quarter when the Warmth outscored the Celtics 39-14.
Shifting ahead on this collection, it’ll be very attention-grabbing to see how the Celtics defend Butler, however who is aware of if they’ll really be capable of cease him given how dominant he has been in these playoffs.
Coming into this collection, many had been speaking concerning the Boston Celtics and the way nice their protection is. Boston is a very sturdy defensive crew and so they deserve lots of credit score for what they did towards the Milwaukee Bucks within the Jap Convention Semifinals, nevertheless it looks like what the Miami Warmth have performed defensively is being overshadowed.
The Warmth ranked fifth within the league in defensive ranking in the course of the common season and so they solely surrendered a median of 105.6 factors per recreation to their opponents, the fourth-best mark within the league.
With out Al Horford and Marcus Good, the Celtics’ protection clearly struggled in Recreation 1, however the Warmth had been incredible defensively in the course of the second-half of this recreation, stopping Jayson Tatum in his tracks and actually limiting Boston’s scoring effectivity.
This crew’s id was constructed on the defensive-end of the ground and this has proven up to now within the playoffs.
All evening lengthy, the Warmth took benefit of lazy passes made by the Celtics and their protection was good by way of collapsing on the Celtics when Boston regarded to get to the rim.
Time-and-time once more, both Bam Adebayo or Jimmy Butler had been arising with an enormous block that allowed the Warmth to run in transition and get some straightforward baskets on the different finish of the ground.
It nearly appears to be like like at instances that the 5 members of the Miami Warmth out on the ground are on a string tied to at least one one other, which makes them an elite-level defensive crew since all of them transfer in unison. Jayson Tatum can not do all the things for the Celtics on offense and to be able to try to break down this stellar Warmth protection, another person should step up for them.
The Warmth had been nice defensively, Jimmy Butler was incredible on offense and the Boston Celtics actually struggled to get something going within the second-half of Recreation 1.
That is mainly a fast summarization of what occurred on Tuesday evening, however a constructive Boston can take away from this recreation is the truth that Payton Pritchard as soon as once more delivered huge minutes off-the-bench.
In simply his second season, Pritchard is de facto beginning to come into his personal and he’s starting to know his worth to the Celtics as a jump-shooter on the perimeter.
One of many issues with the younger guard coming into the NBA was his dimension and stature given that he’s undersized in comparison with most guards within the league. Nonetheless, he actually doesn’t should be a major ball-handler and have dimension as a degree guard for the Celtics as a result of they’ve Tatum and Brown as their major facilitator and ball-handlers.
This permits Pritchard to play to his most important power and that’s taking pictures from the perimeter.
Whereas he’s solely averaging about 14.1 minutes per recreation in these playoffs, Payton Pritchard has gone 15-42 (35.7%) from three-point vary and over his final two video games, Pritchard has shot 8-17 (47.1%) from three-point vary, scoring a complete of 32 factors off-the-bench in 47 complete minutes.
Payton Pritchard performed a complete of half-hour within the absence of Marcus Good in Recreation 1 on Tuesday and whereas he might not appear upwards of half-hour once more, his manufacturing is precisely what Boston needs to see and must see.
Depth goes to play an enormous function on this collection given what number of gamers the Warmth can flip to on offense and for the Celtics, they actually haven’t had regular manufacturing outdoors of Tatum and Brown all 12 months lengthy.
Having somebody like Pritchard who can come into the sport and knock down a number of three-pointers is extraordinarily invaluable and he may show to be an actual difference-maker on this collection for the Celtics.
Boston police are looking for a man they say inappropriately touched several students at a small high school near Copley Square.
Officers responded around 11:30 a.m. to the Snowden International School on Newbury Street in Back Bay after reports that the man had touched students as they were walking in and out of the building.
“That’s scary, that it’s happening right here,” one woman said.
According to a police report, the man had been seen in the area before, approaching two students. Documents state at one point, a student stated the man “touched his chest and asked, ‘Yo bro, do you work out?’”
Police said photos of the man were captured and sent out to other law enforcement officials.
The department said in a statement that it is “encouraging families to remind students about the importance of being aware of their surroundings and reporting any concerning behavior to their school.”
Boston Public Schools will have an increased Safety Services presence around the campus for the next few days.
Local News
A Boston man who allegedly assaulted a transgender woman at a Blue Line MBTA station on Halloween is facing charges of assault and violating the victim’s civil rights, officials said.
Gregory Burnett, 53, pleaded not guilty to assault and battery causing serious bodily injury, assault and battery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (his foot), and a civil rights violation with injury, Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said.
The woman, 41, told police that another passenger boarded the train at Maverick, immediately approached her, and shouted “derogatory terms” at her, the DA said. Burnett allegedly said statements including “you’re not a woman, you’re a man.”
Burnett then punched and kicked her, including in the crotch area. The woman tried to defend herself, the DA said, but Burnett grabbed her foot and caused her to fall and fracture her wrist.
Other passengers helped the woman defend herself against Burnett and get him off the train, officials said.
The woman reported the incident to police the next day and said “she felt targeted due to her gender identity based on Burnett’s remarks during the assault,” the DA said.
MBTA police used witness descriptions and surveillance video to identify Burnett and apprehend him at Maverick last Tuesday, according to Hayden’s office.
Burnett was initially held in jail after being found dangerous in court, but was released last week on conditions to stay at home outside of work hours, according to court records. With a GPS, he is confined to his home outside of 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday. He is also required to maintain employment, stay away from any witnesses, not commit any further offenses, and not possess any firearms.
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Book Club
Last month, “The Boston Globe Story of the Celtics,” a comprehensive book of nearly every recorded moment in Celtics history, was released. The book’s editor Chad Finn, a sports columnist for The Boston Globe and Boston.com, collected hundreds of Celtics stories written by renowned sports reporters, such as Bob Ryan and Jackie MacMullan, since the team’s inception in 1946.
For Boston.com’s Book Club, Finn joined Boston.com sports writer Hayden Bird to discuss his process and insights in editing his book. Watch the full video, or read highlights of the discussion below.
Below is an abbreviated version of the discussion, which has been edited and condensed for clarity.
With something like this, where it’s a compilation of the Globe‘s coverage of the Celtics throughout their mutual histories, the one thing you’re really wondering about is: Was everything covered?
I think it was a little bit more complicated, a little bit more reason to worry about it, with the Celtics book because of the race element with Bill Russell. Did they cover some of the stuff that players endured back then? Not being able to eat with their teammates when they would go to North Carolina for an exhibition game or something like that. So it was very satisfying, and also a bit of a relief, to find out that the Globe … had covered every single step, every single significant story along the way with the Celtics, from their launch in 1946 until putting out banner No. 18 a couple of weeks ago.
The first thing you have to do is sit down and make a thorough list of every significant thing chronologically that happened in Celtics history. Once you have that list of 450 different things that happened in Celtics lore, then you go into the archives and you say, “Do we have this?”
A lot of it is also our researcher, Jerry Manion, who’s just an absolute expert at finding what you’re looking for. I can’t tell you how many times in putting this book together where I would message Jerry and say, “Can you find that?” and I’d have it five minutes later. To be able to have that kind of support when you’re putting together a project that could be overwhelming is incredible. I’m incredibly grateful for that.
The game stories and the stories from the coverage tended to be play by play, whereas nowadays, it’s a little bit of a look ahead, or a little bit of context on what you just saw, because you know about Jayson Tatum’s dunk and Jaylen Brown’s three-pointer that tied the game. Back then, that was news to you in the morning. You didn’t see it yourself.
One is Bob Ryan’s lead when they drafted Larry Bird. Red Auerbach took him while he still had a year left of college in Indiana State because back then there was a loophole … where you could draft a player if his college class had graduated.
Bob Ryan had seen Larry Bird play in person. He knew what Red had just pulled off, and his lead basically said Red didn’t just look like he swallowed the canary, it looked like he swallowed the whole aviary — perfect lead for Larry Bird. The whole column turned out to be prescient about how Larry’s career would go. I have some favorite stories in the book, but that one would be right up there in the top five just because of how he started it, how he wrote it, and how right he was.
I learned that the quality of writing really elevated in the late ‘60s. People took more chances with their writing.
In 1969, Leigh Montville got hired at the Globe, and I think if you asked every Globe columnist that has worked here the last 50 years, they would tell you Leigh Montville was the best columnist of all in terms of pure writing ability. He was lyrical, and he joined the beat covering the Celtics in Bill Russell’s last year.
There was another writer at the same time named Bob Sales. His style was very easy to read and thoughtful, and did not shy away from opinions that probably were considered pretty progressive at the time. He was very supportive of the Black players on the Celtics. I thought Bob Sales, even more than Leigh Montville because he came before him, was somebody who really changed the style of writing about the Celtics and the approach that people took to it.
Then a whole different topic, but Bob Ryan came around. He started the Globe the same day as [Peter] Gammons in 1968 as interns. When he took over the NBA beat in the early ‘70s, it changed everything.
If there was an incident, or if they were not treated as equals — which happened a lot — to their white teammates, the Globe wrote about it. And I wasn’t sure going into the book if that was going to be the case, and it was.
There are still misconceptions about how the Celtics handled race, and a big part of that is because their team — that a certain generation remembers so well — is Bird, McHale, Danny Ainge. There was a perception: Oh yeah, Celtics, Boston, White. I mean they had the best white players, but it had nothing to do with race why they were here, and Celtics history tells you that.
Look at Celtics history, and Red just wanted to win. He didn’t care about the race or color of his players. He just wanted the best players, and that was well ahead of its time back then.
You get into the eighties, and Magic and Bird change the game in a bunch of different ways — saying they save the league really isn’t an exaggeration. To have grown up watching that, it was really cool to be able to get into that phase of the book where we are doing things that I remember and that I witnessed.
But it was the hardest chapter in the book to edit, and it’s by far the biggest chapter in the book, for two reasons. Obviously they accomplished a lot, and they won the three titles in that era, and there were so many memorable games, the Lakers and the rivalry, the Sixers, and later on the Pistons. And with a book like this, you can’t just put the championships in it. There were so many games that resonated with people along the way.
The other thing was the quality of the writing was mind-blowing. It was Bob Ryan at the peak of his powers; it was Dan Shaughnessy, Montville; Jackie MacMullan came along in the late ‘80s. So the hardest thing I had to do with this book was pick which story to use without being redundant when two or three of them wrote about the same subject. Which one do I use?
I dedicated the book to my daughter who’s the biggest Celtics fan I know. I also dedicated to Bob Ryan, who is my writing hero.
I also think just writing about the family aspect of it — that’s become a really big thing with the Celtics themselves. I’ve never seen a team that was as connected and as willing to allow people around the players, their kids, their wives, to be as big a part of things as the 2024 Celtics were.
I think it bonded them together even more where they’ve developed this culture, where it’s just greater than what they have on the court.
Catch up on the latest Boston.com Book Club pick and join the virtual author discussions.
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