Celtics Showed More Edge Defending Bam Adebayo in Win over Heat

MIAMI — Marcus Smart struggled for much of Friday’s 111-104 win over the Heat, tossing passes into traffic, finishing 0-for-4 from three and Boston lost the minutes he played by two points.

One Smart play might’ve also single-handily flipped a loss into a win early in the season, spinning wide of Bam Adebayo’s moving screen trying to stick with Tyler Herro and falling to draw Adebayo’s fourth foul.

The Heat led 71-69 when Adebayo exited the game, barking at the officials and picking up a technical foul after trailing by eight points at halftime. The Celtics fought through Adebayo’s screens all night to that point, which had freed Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler and others for mid-range pull ups over the drop. Only Smart consistently excelled at navigating them and funneling his assignments toward Al Horford in the drop. Bam built an early Miami lead shooting aggressively.

When he exited, the Heat fell apart and Celtics shot ahead on an 8-0 run and led by 12 points after the third quarter on their way to 2-0. Flashing more edge by frustrating Miami despite their own issues with his play.

“It’s hard,” Malcolm Brodgon told CLNS Media discussing Adebayo’s screening. “He’s a great screener. Some of them are illegal and don’t get called, but that’s the reality of the game.”

Adebayo scored six early points in the first quarter, answering calls for him to score aggressively from Erik Spoelstra. Then, he began focusing on clearing space for Miami’s shooters with his driving screens, wrapping up Boston defenders like an offensive lineman. Jayson Tatum collided with him on one to begin the second quarter, sending Adebayo to the floor as he and Smart exchanged words.

Smart and Tatum consulted the official afterward, though rarely complained or neared a technical foul, Adebayo returning the floor to create a Herro three then bury another pull-up two of his work over Noah Vonleh, who he handed a slight shove to afterward. He freed Herro for another floater, then Smart evaded one of his screens to force a 24 second violation, helping Boston escape to halftime with a flashy bounce pass to Tatum.

The Celtics found ways even as Miami stayed close, gobbling up offensive rebounds for second and sometimes third chances. Brogdon grabbed his own miss three times in the third quarter alone, laying one back up and in and creating baskets for Brown and Tatum on the others while Derrick White sat with foul trouble. One of many who had to navigate Adebayo’s activity while Boston’s bigs sat in drop.

“Bam’s a great screener and if you’re not connected to the ball-handler, and he gets a piece, he’s a big guy. You’re going to be in trouble,” Tatum told CLNS. “So really pressuring the ball, getting into the ball-handler just to give yourself a chance to kind of blow the screen up or get through it, because if you don’t against Bam, it’s going to be pretty tough to navigate.”

Boston made Bam feel them on those plays into the second half, Smart’s arm colliding hard with Adebayo’s midsection on one and sending him into a crouch. Still, the lead nearly slipped away after Miami tied the game on an Adebayo offensive rebound, long handoff play to set Kyle Lowry up for three and a transition slam for Bam following a Smart turnover. Joe Mazzulla shared some words with Smart, who had talked with Jaylen Brown out of timeout.

Mazzulla had withheld calling timeout until that point, trusting the experience of his group to figure it out. A move Tatum praised after the game since it’s still early in the year. That might not have been the case if another miscommunication between Smart and Brown after and go-ahead free throws from Lowry in transition turned into a loss, but after Brown got stopped at the rim on the next possession, Tatum chased Caleb Martin down the floor and swatted him off the backboard. One play before Smart knocked Adebayo out of the game.

The ball bounced Boston’s way, literally, allowing White to feed Tatum through a defender’s legs at one point while Adebayo had position on more rebounds than he grabbed. Smart and Boston’s defense, amassing 11 blocks, overcame 19 turnovers by the offense that had won them opening night.

Tatum stuck with a miss inside for a key fourth quarter basket and his right-to-left move proved to be the most important basket of the game ahead by seven late. Most importantly, Adebayo left the game more frustrated by his screen interactions than the Celtics, who just kept finding a way on Friday night.

“It’s not tough for me (to navigate Bam screens),” Mazzulla said. “I don’t have to do it. I understand how tough it is, and I credit our guys that they continue to do it over and over and over again. To me, it’s a testament to who they are as a team and they want to win.”