Richard DiMarzo
Here on October 21st, 2022, we had the rematch of the Eastern Conference finals last year as the Celtics traveled to Miami to face off against the Heat. With another tough matchup early in the season, the Celtics prevailed with a 111-104 victory over Miami. The Heat came out swinging early, but the Celtics handled the pressure effectively and displayed great patience and resilience to come out with this win.
Now looking at some of the top performers for the Celtics tonight once again the two stars Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum who combined for a total of 57 points in the victory. Tatum looked absolutely dominant with Brown by his side and I think this duo is becoming a very scary sight for any other teams in the league who have to play against them. Other players who pitched in with good performances were Derrick White who dropped in 10 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks. We can also add Grant Williams to this list who also had 10 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks. The Celtics played great together tonight with everyone contributing in some type of way and it really all starts with the defense setting the tone.
The Celtics seem to be, if not the best, one of the best defensive units in the NBA and they make it very tough on offense to produce offense. The Celtics as a collective had 11 blocks and 4 steals which are huge game-changers against a Miami Heat team who doesn’t usually make many mistakes on offense. The Celtics love to capitalize on offense with their great defensive strengths and this is what has been separating them from the good teams in the NBA.
Now taking a look at their offense they shoot the three-point shot very well tonight shooting 42.9% from outside of the arc. The Celtics also shot over 50% from the field, this is a great sign for the Boston Celtics offense. I think the only negative I saw out of this team tonight was the fact that they had 19 total turnovers which is something that can not keep happening. Turnovers killed the Celtics last year and they will continue to kill them against great teams if these issues are not addressed. Overall though, a great team win and as a Celtics fan, I would be very excited for what is to come out of Boston for this NBA season.
