The Celtics gave Miami the 3-point line in Game 2 and they got burned

BOSTON -- Not again, Boston Celtics. Please, not again.

When the Celtics landed the Miami Heat as their first-round opponent in the NBA playoffs, it was supposed to be a lot different from last postseason, when the 8-seeded Heat upset the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Heat were once again an 8-seed, but these Celtics weren't going to fall into the same pitfalls that doomed last year's team.

Kristaps Porzingis is in the mix this time, and gives Boston the perfect weapon to combat Miami's zone defense. Jimmy Butler is hurt and not around to lead the Heat. And there is no way the Heat would be as deadly from downtown as they were in last year's matchup, when Miami hit 50 percent or better from deep in three of the seven games. The Celtics had to have learned something from last postseason, right?

Maybe not. The Heat took the Celtics' game plan from Game 1 -- when Boston tied a franchise record with 22 makes from 3-point land -- and shoved it right back in their faces in Wednesday night's Game 2. Miami broke its franchise record for 3-pointers in a game, draining 23 of its 43 attempts from downtown in a shocking 111-101 victory at TD Garden.

The Celtics gave the Heat the 3-point shot for the majority of the evening, shading off shooters to protect the rim. And Miami's shooters made them pay, hitting eight of their 15 threes in the first, tying the franchise record for 3-point makes in a quarter. The Heat had made 13 threes by halftime, surpassing the 12 they made in Game 1.

Somehow, the Celtics held a three-point lead at halftime. But Miami was scorching out of the half too, hitting six of their nine threes in the third quarter. The Heat outscored Boston 27-18 in the frame, and the Celtics couldn't recover in the fourth.

Much like last postseason, it was Miami's role players doing the flame throwing. Caleb Martin rarely missed, hitting five of his six triples. Rookie Jamie Jaquez Jr., a 32.2 percent 3-point shooter during the regular season, went 3-for-6 from deep. Nikola Jovic could have made a killing with all the downtown real estate the Celtics gifted him Wednesday night, but instead used it to go 3-for-4 from 3-point range. Haywood Highsmith was 3-for-5 from three for Miami off the bench.

Tyler Herro led the charge for the Heat, hitting six of his 11 threes for 24 points. He had his best play-making game as well, handing out a game-high 14 assists.

Erik Spoelstra recognized that the Celtics were going to give them the three-point line on Wednesday night and used it against them. 

"You have to take them, based on how they were playing us the first two games," Spoelstra said. "I did not want to get annihilated in that department like we did the game before."

The Heat weren't a very good 3-point team in the regular season, touting the NBA's 19th best percentage from deep. It's understandable that the Celtics would go in with a game plan to let them try from deep.

But when it became clear that the Heat weren't going to miss, Joe Mazzulla should have stepped in and made an adjustment. That never happened, and the Heat continued to get clean and open looks throughout the loss.

The Celtics were likely banking on the Heat cooling off at some point. We all know that Mazzulla is an analytics guy, and the numbers probably pointed to a 3-point regression from the Heat.

Did he forget about last year? We've all done our best to black out those nightmare games when the Heat made it rain from deep, but the Celtics should have learned from those. That education was missing Wednesday night.

It was not just Miami's 3-point shooting that sank the Celtics in Game 2 -- and brought back visions of last postseason's disappointing end. There was way too much iso ball on offense, and though Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for 61 points, no one else really got going. Porzingis was invisible over his 30 minutes, finishing with six points on 1-for-9 shooting and 0-for-4 from downtown, while Jrue Holiday was just 4-for-12 for nine points.

The Celtics are now all square with the Heat at a game apiece as the series shifts to Miami for Game 3 on Saturday night. A series that was seen as a potential cakewalk for Boston could now become a battle for survival, and the Celtics have no one to blame but themselves.