Heat’s Erik Spoelstra, Bam Adebayo explain exactly what went wrong vs. Celtics in Game 1 playoff loss

The Heat were clearly overwhelmed by the Celtics and their ability to get hot from the three-point line at any given moment, but they were untouchable throughout the contest. as they connected on 22 makes from that range. For Boston, that is tied for the most in franchise history in a single playoff game. In comparison, Miami had only five going into the final period, eventually finishing with 12.

Bam Adebayo believes the game could’ve had “a different result”

Adebayo led the team Sunday with 24 points to go along with six rebounds as he said before Game 1 that his expectations for the series is that it would be a “dogfight” and that it “won’t be pretty basketball.” Miami is known for their physicality and taking games into the mud, but that didn’t happen as the Celtics played to their strengths.

The big-man would say after the game to ClutchPoints that he can’t help but feel that if Boston didn’t go on that hot start, that it’s “a different result.” After being down 34 points in the second half, Miami would cut down the lead to 15 coming off of a 18-2 run, something that the team can hang their hats on.

“I feel like the start the game was really the icing for them,” Adebayo said. “They got off to a large lead and held on to that throughout the game, but we don’t get off to a start like that, we fall back into this game. So I feel like it’s a different result if we don’t let them get off to a hot start.”

Jaime Jaquez Jr. talks what to improve on in Game 2 for Miami

For Heat rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. in his first playoff game, he was solid as the UCLA product scored 16 points to go with four assists and four rebounds. He mentioned to ClutchPoints after the game that the focus all season has been to get their opponents in the mud and share the ball on offense, but also to improve on cleaning the board on that side and get “second chance points.”

Yeah, I mean, that’s been a focus basically the entire season for us and defensively when we want to get them in the mud,” Jaquez said. “You know, offensively, we want to share the ball and get great shots. I think you know, like I said before, and one thing we need to clean up is just those second chance points and those offensive rebounds. You know, we’re gonna be a lot better next game.”

The Heat played their fifth game in the last 10 days, but now have a two-day break to figure stuff out and hope to compete in this series. Game 2 will be Wednesday night as Miami looks to not go down 2-0 in the series which could lead to a quick series.