The Miami Heat are attempting to take a 3-1 series lead on the road in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference Finals series against the Boston Celtics on Monday night.
Miami is helped by the fact that reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart is sidelined to an ankle injury. Or so we thought.
Taking on a desperate Celtics squad at TD Garden, Miami put up an absolutely brutal start to the game. How bad was it? Miami missed its first 15 shots and was stuck on one point until Victor Oladipo hit a three-pointer with 3:22 remaining in the first quarter.
You read that right. The Miami Heat scored one point (a Bam Adebayo free throw) through the first eight minutes and 38 seconds of the game.
When all was said and done through the first 12 minutes, Miami was trailing by the score of 29-11. The team connected on 3-of-20 shots from the field.
That’s not exactly what a team is looking for as it attempts to take a 3-1 stranglehold on the series.
As for the Celtics, they certainly came to play early on in what has to be considered a must-win. That included Jayson Tatum scoring 12 points while grabbing five rebounds in the first quarter.
The Miami Heat offense: pic.twitter.com/0tc3JGwS8C
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) May 24, 2022
We can’t even make the joke about this being a football score yet because Miami has been stuck on 1 point for so long.
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) May 24, 2022
18-1 is a bizarre NBA score.
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) May 24, 2022
I’ve never seen anything like this
— Tony Jones (@Tjonesonthenba) May 24, 2022
The Heat have missed their first 14 shots. Not sure I've ever seen anything like this in an NBA game.
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) May 24, 2022
Without boring you with technical mumbojumbo, this Heat-Celtics series is a bit weird.
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) May 24, 2022
Gonna need the Heat to score soon bc that 1 point is v aesthetically unpleasing
— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) May 24, 2022
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