[Number999]

2018/2019 Miami Heat 2nd Round Summary

2018/2019 NBA Playoff Picture:
#1. Boston Celtics vs #5. Miami Heat
#6. Cleveland Cavaliers vs #7. Detroit Pistons

#1. Houston Rockets vs #4. Oklahoma City Thunder
#2. Minnesota Timberwolves vs #3. Golden State Warriors

Summary: After such an up and down regular season before performing strong at the end, the Miami Heat made quick work of the Orlando Magic to advance to Round #2 of these NBA playoffs. The star of the show was Goran Dragic, but the Heat's ability to close out games late while the Magic's offense sputtered was the key difference maker in why one of them will be going home. Now the Heat turn their attention to try and get revenge on none other than the team that eliminated them in 5 games last year. The mighty Boston Celtics. Kyrie Irving averaged 31.7PPG against the Milwaukee Bucks and while it took the C's 6 games to finish them off, they were playing without Gordon Hayward, Al Horford, and Jaylen Brown due to injuries. Regardless, they did manage to survive and that meant Hayward and Horford would be ready to go for this next series against the Heat. Miami had many close games against them last year despite the fact they were eliminated in just 5 games. Perhaps experience with this in the 1st Round could be the difference maker this year? We shall find out.

Let's get on with Round #2!

#1. Boston Celtics vs #5. Miami Heat

Game #1: In a lot of series, the team that can establish their tempo in Game #1 tends to be the one who takes the series. In the opener, the Celtics controlled throughout and Boston won 101-92. Dion Waiters was great. 28 points from him reminiscent of what he pulled off last year, and Hassan Whiteside was also fantastic with 23/15 and 4 blocks. The problem? Dragic with just 10 points. No one else had more than 7. Winslow was bad, Wade was awful, and meanwhile the Celtics had 6 scorers scoring at least 10 points including 24/5/13 from Kyrie Irving. The real ball-buster? Down 72-90 with around 5 minutes to play, the Heat were rallying. They could have won this game. But who killed them? Not Kyrie, not Hayward, not Horford, but Marcus Smart. Smart hit 3 3’s down the stretch that prevented the Heat from getting very close. They only ended up losing by 9 points but this game was far more lop-sided than that. If Miami wants to make it back to the ECF, EVERYBODY must play better.

Game #2: In Game #1, the defining factor was the fact Miami had no depth beyond Waiters and Whiteside while everybody contributed for Boston. In Game #2, the former still had true but the later changed! Waiters put on a display tonight, 31 points on 12/20 shooting while Whiteside had 16/14/3/3/2 of his own. Goran Dragic continued to struggle shooting 2/12 with just 5 points but at least gathering 10 assists. What happened with Boston? Only Kyrie, Smart, and Hayward performed well! The Heat won 95-86. The reason? The Celtics despite a 33-15 free throw shooting disparity shot 6/23 from 3-point range. 38% from the field. Tatum went 2/7, Morris went 3/9, Horford went 1/7… and the Heat meanwhile got a 14-point concerted effort by Kelly Olynyk! The game was never in doubt late, and while the Heat are awaiting Dragic to figure things out, Waiters is caring the load and straight up balling out. If you had been asked before the series if you’d take a 1-1 split headed back to American Airlines, you would have been met with an over-whelming yes from all the South Florida faithful. You were down 0-2 at this time last year and whooped them in Game #3, let’s do it again this season.

Game #3: Tied at 93-93 after a Kyrie Irving 3-pointer, the Heat were playing on their heels. Kelly Olynyk had given them a sensational 2nd half as Goran Dragic sat out of the game fouling out in just 18 minutes due to unbelievable play by Kyrie Irving. They turned to Olynyk, they turned to Waiters, and they turned to Justise Winslow. On the floor in the final minutes of this pivotal Game #3 for the Heat was Kostja Mushidi, Dion Waiters, Justise Winslow, James Johnson, and Kelly Olynyk. That’s right… no Whiteside. Due to Waiters being completely gassed, the Heat handed over the reigns of the offense to Winslow. Working with JJ, he attacked the rim for a layup to put them up 101-97. Then after a missed 3 by Gordon Hayward, he fed James Johnson rushing to the rim who was fouled by Al Horford for the AAAND-1! Huge call! He then converted on the free throw to put Miami up 7. Kyrie tried to go iso and carry Boston once again, but no success as Mushidi clamped down on him nicely. Two sets of free throws and a jumper later by Winslow, he had carried them past the Celtics as Miami won 109-97 taking a 2-1 lead over the 60-win 1st seeded Boston Celtics. Simply stunning. Kelly Olynyk with 22 points and 6 rebounds. Waiters with 21 points. Winslow with 19 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. Though he didn’t play down the stretch, Whiteside had 14/17 as well. All Boston had was 35/6/13 from Kyrie. You can’t win playoff series on your own. Smart 2/10, Tatum 2/7, and Hayward/Horford only scoring 12 and 11 points are the difference makers. Even with Dragic being totally obsolete this series, Miami seemingly has the upper-hand now, and a year ago that would have been viewed as simply impossible.

Game #4: With under 5 minutes to in the game, Goran Dragic drives to attack the rim and is fouled by Kyrie Irving in the motion of shooting. That would be Irving’s 6th foul, and means he is forced to sit the remainder of the game despite his 27 points and 7 assists. Dragic meanwhile had finally come to life with 25+ points thus far. He splits at the line, and the game is now all tied up at 90-90. The lineup the Celtics roll down the stretch with is Marcus Smart, Gordon Hayward, Jayson Tatum, Montrezl Harrell, and Al Horford. For once, they’d have to perform without Kyrie down the stretch late… and boy did they ever perform. Heat leading 95-93 with 3:27 remaining? Try a Horford 3, Harrell split 1/2, and Horford jumper. Heat responded back with a layup, but then it was time for Gordon Hayward to finally make his presence known this series as hit a 3 as Goran Dragic got stuck on a screen. 102-97 Celtics. Miami responded with two more buckets from JJ and Whiteside. 1-point game late… shot clock is winding down, and the pick-and-pop with Hayward/Horford works wonders as Whiteside goes to cover the rim. Horford cocks and loads…. KABOOM. 105-101 Celtics. Even then the game wasn’t over. Dragic with quick layup meant that they would get the ball back with a shot if they got a stop. Smart would attack Waiters and go for a really tough contested shot, NO GOOD! HEAT REBOUND! Timeout Miami! On the in-bound, Waiters had the ball. Whiteside with the screen, he drives right, he gets past Smart, he goes up and BLOCKED BY HARRELL! REBOUND HORFORD! HE GOES DOWN TO TATUM WHO IS FINALLY FOULED WITH 0.5 REMAINING! CELTICS WIN THE BALLGAME 107-103!…. yup. Waiters had just 9 points, and had the potential game-tying bucket blocked by Montrezl Harrell of all people. Dragic 29 points? Wasted. Whiteside 18/10? No good. The Celtics proved they were a team more than a 1-man show with Kyrie, Hayward/Horford murdered the Heat down the stretch. Now it’s tied 2-2 heading back to Boston.

Game #5: The Boston Celtics led 93-77 with 4:37 remaining after an incredible off balanced 3-pointer by Jayson Tatum. The Heat had struggled greatly in this pivotal Game #5 that would set one of these teams one victory away from the Eastern Conference Finals. Even despite that situation, Goran Dragic still fought hard as he had all night to make things close. It got to be as close as a 93-87 ballgame with under 30 seconds left but it was too little too late. The Celtics took Game #5, 97-91. Goran Dragic scored 30 points on 50% shooting, he has some slight help in Waiters with 12, Winslow with 12, McGruder with 12, and Olynyk with 11 but Hassan Whiteside had his worse game of the series producing 4/11… not the stat line you need out of your star player. Kyrie had 28 and Hayward had 24. Al Horford brought Whiteside down to his playing level and beat him with experience. The Heat could have gone up 3-1 if things play out slightly differently at the end of Game #4, yet now they’re trailing 2-3 needing to defend their home floor or be eliminated in back-to-back seasons by the Boston Celtics. All eyes are on Whiteside, Dragic, and Waiters to produce. If they don’t… well, you know what could happen.

Game #6: Utter domination. The Miami Heat, backs against the wall, close game after the 1st half… just blew the doors off the Boston Celtics. They held them to 6/20 shooting in the 3rd quarter, and 0/4 from 3 in the 4th. The Heat obliterated the Celtics, 100-77 to push this series where it was going to go all this time, to a Game #7! Dion Waiters with 24 points and 7 assists and a +21 plus/minus. Hassan Whiteside did him better with a +32, along with 19 points, 14 rebounds, and 6 blocks! That’s what the big man needed to give and he gave it. Kelly Olynyk with 14 points, and decent 11 points and 11 assists from Goran Dragic. Kyrie was human for Boston, scoring just 20 points while Hayward shot 5/14 from the field. Horford went 1/7. Last year, the Celtics proved to be too much to handle due to their ability late in games and the Heat’s inability to respond. This year, the sides are essentially dead even as Jaylen Brown being sidelined with an injury has proved far more costly than they could have ever imagined. He’ll be back for this Game #7. It’s going to be an absolute grind in Boston and the Heat will have to perform exceptionally to pull off the upset. Will the Heat avenge last years defeat? OR will Boston slay their enemies of the South once more? Game #7 will provide all the answers.

Game #7: The Miami Heat led 101-99 following two free throws by Montrezl Harrell. It would be fitting that this game come down to the wire just as so many games did last year in the playoffs between these two teams and so many did this year. Hassan Whiteside would convert two free throws after going up 103-99, and then from there, the Celtics offense died. Horford? Missed floater. Kyrie? Missed mid-range 2. Meanwhile, Winslow hit a jumper. Minute after minute ticked off the clock, and all that followed were more misses by the Celtics. This time a missed Jayson Tatum 3-pointer after creating separation against Winslow. Dragic achieved back-to-back layups on beautifully executed pick-and-roll situations to put Miami up 10 with under a minute remaining. Finally the Celtics offense woke up to make it 109-103 but it was too late. Their offense sputtered to a halt at the worst possible time. Their season was over. The Miami Heat took Game #7, 111-103! They upset the 60-win Boston Celtics and avenge their loss in 5 games the prior season. Dion Waiters had 30, Tragic with 20/5/5, Winslow with 16/6/6, Whiteside with 13/8, hell even JJ had 7/6/8 and Olynyk chipped in 12 points. Gordon hayward scored just 9 for Boston and Kyrie’s 35 point effort wasn’t enough. Losing Game 7’s on your home floor aren’t common. Both sides were dead even, the Heat just made their shots while Boston didn’t in the most pivotal stretch of their entire season, and for that they’re headed on to the ECF!

Final Series Breakdown: These two teams were honestly in a dead lock with each other. The Heat had Dion Waiters perform like a star, and Goran Dragic picked up his play towards the end of the series. The contributions from Kelly Olynyk and Justise Winslow were also massive. The Celtics biggest issue was shooting efficiently. Kyrie shot 48% which isn't bad, but compared to the 56% he shot in the 1st Round with a larger load it is telling. Gordon Hayward coming back from injury averaged 15.6PPG on 43% shooting, Marcus Smart with 9.7PPG on 32% shooting, and finally Jayson Tatum 9.4PPG on 42% shooting. Al Horford averaged just 6.3PPG and 7.4RPG on extremely poor shooting splits in 30 minutes per game of action. Yet, he did of course have that big contribution in Game #4. This series was ultimately decided by the fact that the Heat had that key run at the end of Game #7, while Boston's offense sputtered to a halt at the worst possible moment.

2018/2019 Miami Heat Playoff Stats

Miami Heat Stats - 18/19
Player	GP	MIN	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TPG	FPG
Dion Waiters	7	33.0	22.1	2.4	4.4	0.6	0.0	1.3	2.9
Goran Dragic	7	32.6	16.1	2.7	5.7	1.1	0.0	1.7	2.7
Hassan Whiteside	7	33.6	15.3	12.7	1.1	1.4	2.1	1.3	2.9
Kelly Olynyk	7	22.1	11.9	4.0	2.4	0.4	0.9	1.6	2.9
Justise Winslow	7	32.6	11.6	5.1	2.6	0.7	0.3	1.9	3.3
James Johnson	7	29.3	6.0	7.6	3.7	1.6	1.4	1.0	2.7
Kostja Mushidi	7	15.4	5.6	1.9	2.7	0.6	0.3	1.0	0.1
Dwyane Wade	7	18.9	4.4	1.6	1.7	0.3	0.7	1.7	0.6
Rodney McGruder	7	11.7	3.9	2.1	0.7	0.1	0.0	0.4	0.6
Bam Adebayo	7	8.7	3.0	2.4	0.3	0.0	0.3	0.0	0.6

Analysis: Last year, Dion Waiters averaged 25PPG against Boston, and this year he performed to just about that same level. Phenomenal performances including that 30-point effort in Game #7 to clinch an appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals. Goran Dragic was piss poor almost as though he was suffering a hang-over from how well he did against Orlando, before finally coming to life in the 2nd half of the series. His percentages are weighed down by how he played early, but he picked them back up to respectable at the end. Hassan Whiteside continues to be anchor of the interior defense building off how he played in Round #1. Kelly Olynyk who was kind of a non-factor in the opening round was a jolt the Heat needed to match with the Celtics' depth. His shooting was sensational. The same could be said for Justise Winslow who validated why the Celtics wanted to trade up with the Hornets back in the 2015 NBA Draft to take him with some monster shots taking over the offense when Waiters and Dragic was gassed. D-Wade performed really poorly but honestly the Celtics youth was just a horrible matchup for him from the start. Now with our next opponent, that'll likely change.

2018/2019 NBA Playoffs (2nd):
#1. Celtics (3) - #5. Heat (4)
#6. Cavaliers (4) - #7. Pistons (2)

#1. Rockets (4) - #4. Thunder (2)
#2. T-Wolves (0) - #3. Warriors (4)

Summary: The Celtics/Heat back-and-forth series has been discussed in plenty of detail. Switching gears to the other series in the East, you have quite the classic matchup. When LeBron were a mere young pup in the NBA, he has his bouts with this same squad and now towards the end he's still dealing with them, albeit an entirely different core on both sides. LeBron averaged 31.3PPG, 10.3APG, and 8.3RPG against Detroit as they defeated them in 6 games. Kevin Love was also solid, as was Mike Conley(acquired for Nets pick at draft from Memphis) and including two depth acquisitions in Cedi Osman and Zach Randolph(YES, that Randolph who was acquired via trade in exchange for Iman Shumpert) The Pistons did mange to steal two games off Cleveland, and narrowly lost Game #4 by a 112-113 margin. But Game #6 was no contest with the Cavaliers smashing them 123-91. After being stunned in the 1st Round for the first time in his career, LeBron is coming back for his throne and will be in the ECF. As for Detroit, they had a successful year knocking off the 76ers as the #2 seed and can look to add to their core for a run next year.

Over in the Western Conference, you had two epic series due to the matchups and history of each team. The Rockets were the #1 seed last year and were upset by the Thunder in the Western Conference Finals after sweeping the first two rounds 8-0. Now they got to face their enemy again, this time with the Thunder being the defending NBA Champions. Split 1-1 after the first two games, OKC led by Westbrook's 36/11/9 effort stole Game #3 to go up 2-1 in the series... and then they faced the true onslaught of the Rockets greatness. 15 3's by Houston in Game #4 propelled them to a 135-120 victory, and in Game #5 it was Clint Capela who emerged as a star that OKC could not contain gathering 24 points and 9 rebounds. 3-2 Houston. Would OKC be able to defend their home floor?... nope. Game #6 had the Rockets victorious 114-105 as they would get back to the WCF for the second consecutive year. Meeting them there would be the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors were stunned last year in 6 games in the 2nd Round by that very same Thunder squad. They were determined to get revenge, but that will not end up being the case due to their early elimination. What happened in this series vs Minnesota? The Warriors knew what to do late in games while Minnesota didn't. They simply didn't have the experience. They won Game #3 by a score of 112-110, and Game #4 110-104, as the T-Wolves and Thibodeau were swept out of the playoffs. Does that spell the end of the Towns/Butler/Wiggins trio? Who knows.

A scrappy Heat squad vs LeBron and Cleveland while you have Harden/CP3 vs dynasty Warriors. All coming next!