Basketball Intelligence for 5/18/23

The day's best NBA reporting and analysis

EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS

MIA 123, BOS 116

The (Jimmy) Butler did it again, gives Miami early series lead
Sherrod Blakely, Full Court Press Newsletter

Instant analysis: Celtics overtaken by Heat after dominant third quarter, lose Game 1 of Eastern Conference finals
Adam Himmelsbach, Boston Globe

Celtics trip up trying to redeem second half collapse in Game 1 loss
Jared Weiss, The Athletic

Then after Game 1, this was his explanation for why the game plan broke down.

“Giving up 3s in transition,” Mazzulla said. “I thought they got out in transition. They were able to get so many leak-outs. We got cross-matched a lot in transition, which put us in some difficult spots in the half court and just lost sight of their shooters, and then they got some offensive rebounds on us in that third quarter, as well.”

A third-quarter collapse
Adam Taylor, Celtics Film Room

Celtics defense slips again in Game 1 loss to Heat: ‘the gameplan should be defense’
Jack Simone, Celtics Blog

Coup’s Takeaways: HEAT Ride Highest Scoring Quarter In Franchise Postseason History To Game 1 Victory
Couper Moorhead, NBA.com

How Do the Heat Keep Doing This?
Zach Kram, The Ringer