Celtics Culture took over Miami Thursday night, as Boston lit up South Beach with one of the best shooting displays in NBA history.
The C’s shot 63.8 percent from the field, 55.0 percent from 3-point range, and 95.0 percent from the free-throw line, becoming the third team in NBA history to hit each of those marks in a game, which they wound up winning soundly, 143-110.
Combined, those numbers equated to a true-shooting percentage of 80.5 percent, marking just the second time in league history that a team has reached the 80-percent mark (Utah holds the record with a TS% of 80.8 percent on April 28, 2021, at Sacramento).
The last time the Celtics paid a visit to Kaseya Center, they delivered a devastating blow: Derrick White’s Game 6 game-winning tip-in at the buzzer.
This visit resulted in a different type of devastation, as the C’s handed Miami its fifth straight loss while putting up both the third-most points and the third-highest field-goal percentage ever by a Heat opponent.
“The focus level was there,” Jaylen Brown after the game. “Just playing unselfish basketball, making the right plays, seeing the game, making those right decisions. It was real clear tonight and everybody just kind of acted accordingly. When we’re seeing the game and we're all connected like that on offense, it makes it a lot easier on defense, and it makes it really, really tough for us to lose.”
The Celtics had seven double-digit scorers, led by 26 points from Jayson Tatum just hours after being named to his fifth consecutive All-Star game and fourth straight as a starter.
Kristaps Porzingis scored 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting (3-of-4 from long range) before exiting the game midway through the third quarter with a sprained ankle.
Fortunately, Porzingis was able to return to the bench not long after the injury and seemed to be in good spirits as he cheered on his team for the remainder of the game.
Later, in the locker room, he expressed optimism that it could just be a day-to-day injury.
Brown finished right behind his buddy KP with 18 points to go along with four rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Jrue Holiday scored 17 points on an outstanding 7-of-8 shooting effort and also tallied five rebounds and five assists. And Derrick White logged 15 points, six rebounds, six assists, and two blocks.
Every member of the starting lineup made at least three shots both from 3-point range and from 2-point range, marking the first time in NBA history that a team has had five players accomplish such a feat in the same game.
The Celtics also had four players hand out at least four assists, including a game-high-tying six from Al Horford off the bench.
On the defensive end, they didn’t allow a single Heat player to reach 20 points. And they grabbed more than twice as many defensive rebounds as Miami with a tally of 41-20 (the ninth-largest net defensive rebound mark in team history).
To have such a historic game in Miami, of all places, made the night all the more special. A green and white army took over the rival arena with “Let’s go Celtics” chants and urged their team to keep fighting all the way up to a 34-point lead.
It was Celtics Culture at its finest in a takeover of South Beach.