What the Celtics need to do -- and what they can't do -- in Game 2 vs. Heat

BOSTON -- Most Celtics fans know the deal by now. It doesn't matter how good the team is on paper, they're going to do some frustrating things -- ok, a lot of frustrating things -- that will make a given game and series a lot harder than it has to be.

No matter how good anyone felt about the Celtics heading into halftime of Game 1 with a nine-point lead, there was a feeling that Boston would likely let the Heat go on a run and make it a game again. After all, the playoffs are all about runs. 

But did anyone think the Celtics would royally beef it up and let Miami score 46 stinkin' points in the third quarter? While it's always safe to assume that the Celtics are going to let an opponent get back into it, very few saw that tidal wave of stank coming Wednesday night.

Now the Celtics find themselves in a familiar spot: Down 1-0 to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. They lost Game 1 to the Heat last season in Miami on the heels of a dramatic Game 7 blowout in the East semis, and went on to win Game 2. 

Outside of Jayson Tatum dropping another 50-point game, here's how the Celtics can make sure history repeats itself -- in a good way -- on Friday night.

Regain focus on the defensive end

Jaylen Brown called out everyone's defensive intensity on Wednesday night, because there really wasn't any defensive intensity on the Celtics' end in Game 1. It's one of the things that the Celtics can control themselves, and it was extremely disappointing that outside of Marcus Smart, Boston showed little interest in engaging on that end of the floor. 

They didn't want to battle through screens and left guys wide open on the perimeter. They fell asleep getting back on D, leading to a dozen fast-break points for the Heat, nine of which were scored in that horrific third quarter. And they got lost in way too many switches, allowing Jimmy Butler to match up on Payton Pritchard a handful of times as Joe Mazzulla went looking for a spark off the bench. (There was no spark to be had.)

There is no excuse to come out flat defensively in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. If the Celtics repeat that in Game 2, we can seriously start to question if they should even be in this position.

Defend the 3-ball

Miami is not a good 3-point shooting team. They were at the bottom of the NBA during the regular season.

But when you leave Heat shooters open as much as the Celtics did on Wednesday, they can turn into a bunch of flamethrowers from deep. The Heat sank 16 of their 31 attempts from downtown, with four players hitting three threes (Kyle Lowry, Max Strus, Gabe Vincent, and Caleb Martin) while Butler and Kevin Love hit a pair. 

Somehow, the Celtics lost Lowry behind the arc three times in the second quarter. Butler already has more threes against Boston than he did in six second-round games against the Knicks.

Are the Heat going to shoot as well from deep again? Probably not. But it would be nice if the Celtics at least make it a little difficult on them Friday night.

Stop throwing the ball to Jimmy

Or any member of the Heat for that matter. The Celtics coughed the ball up 15 times in Game 1, which included six steals from  Butler. Half of his thefts came in the fourth quarter, and while Miami didn't score any points off those turnovers, it meant zero points for the Celtics at times when they really needed points. 

Overall, the Heat scored six points off of turnovers in the final frame, and 26 points off Boston's miscues. 

Had the Celtics been a little more careful with the ball, we may have seen a much more exciting finish. Except for those watching on YouTube TV. They wouldn't have seen anything.

Keep Jayson Tatum involved

Tatum was responsible for three of Boston's turnovers in the fourth quarter, all of which came over a four-possession span in the final three minutes. That was all he really did in the final quarter, considering Tatum did not register a shot in the fourth.

Tatum did in fact take some shots, but he was fouled on three of them. He got to the line six times in the fourth and hit all six of his free throws, but the Celtics should have tried to get him going as soon as he checked back in. He sat the first four minutes of the quarter after playing the entire third, and didn't touch the ball the first three possessions after checking in.

Even if he's not scoring or putting up shots, Tatum needs to have the ball in his hands to draw defensive attention. Late in Game 1, he wasn't even getting touches. That's on Mazzulla and point guard Marcus Smart to get him the ball in important spots.

Play Grant

Who would have thought that we'd get to the point where we are begging Joe Mazzulla to put Grant Williams on the court? It's time for the bat signal to shine.

Yes, that was as corny as Williams himself, but he can make a difference in this series if his coach would let him loose from the doghouse. Grant plays defense and he can switch on to just about anyone on the floor, which is the kind of versatility the Celtics need in this matchup. He's also a much better defensive option than Pritchard, whom the Heat targeted any chance they could during his 12 minutes in Game 1.

Williams can also hit threes, as we saw when he hit four of his eight 3-point attempts in Game 2 against the 76ers. And with history repeating itself in this series thus far, maybe it will do the same for Williams on Friday night. In last year's Game 2 against the Heat, he scored 19 points off the bench over 32 minutes, going 5-for-7 from the floor, 2-for-2 from three, and 7-for-8 from the free-throw line.

"We have a plan to use the depth that we need in order to give us the lineups that we think can really help us," Mazzulla said Thursday. "I thought Payton gave us an opportunity with his shooting, with his playmaking, his pick and roll defense [in Game 1]. Like I've said before, Grant is always going to be ready. And we've built a lot of versatility and depth in our lineup where we can go a lot of different ways. We trust that anybody that we call on will be ready."  

Putting Robert Williams in the starting lineup made all the difference for the Celtics against the 76ers. Maybe letting the other Williams on the roster simply play some minutes will make a difference against the Heat.