MIAMI — For a moment, it appeared the Celtics were entering the dreaded midseason slump. With five minutes left in the first quarter of Thursday’s game against the Miami Heat — and on the heels of back-to-back losses — they trailed by 19 points.
That marked their largest first-quarter deficit in years.
As he often does, Joe Mazzulla turned to Anfernee Simons to try to spark some offense. But Simons also struggled to find an instant flow, missing his first two three-pointers. The game’s early minutes seemed to signal that it just wasn’t the Celtics’ night — all while Heat stars Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo sank shot after shot.
But the Celtics weren’t going to fade without a fight. Jordan Walsh, who checked into the game alongside Simons, crashed the glass after Simons’ second missed three and found Payton Pritchard, who immediately swung it to Simons for another clean look.
Simons’ first three-pointer of the night cut the Celtics deficit to 16 points. More importantly, Walsh’s relentlessness on the boards served as the initial spark for Simons’ spectacular offensive masterclass.
By the end of the night, Simons had poured in 39 points on 12-28 shooting, including 7-16 from three-point range. It was his highest point total of the season — the previous high was 27 points, set last week — and the 5th-highest scoring game of his 7-year NBA career.
“Obviously, we were down big,” Simons said. “And we were kind of struggling. So, I just wanted to be aggressive.”
The 26-year-old dropped 11 points in the first quarter, but did most of his damage in the fourth, erupting for 18 points on 6-12 shooting. The Celtics outscored the Heat 37-21 in the final period en route to a 119-115 victory.
“That was an amazing performance off the bench,” said Jaylen Brown. “That was one of his best performances of the year. And we needed every basket.”
Still, while Simons was the indisputable headliner, a successful comeback required a lot more than just his offensive burst.
Jaylen Brown responds to a difficult first half
Jaylen Brown, who finished the game with 27 points and 7 rebounds, scored a pair of crucial baskets in the final minutes as well — a three-point shot and a floater. Brown bounced back from a 7-point, 4-turnover first half and followed that up with a 20-point, 1-turnover second.
He later explained he wanted to give Simons a couple of possessions off in the waning minutes. Riding Simons’ hot hand in the fourth was never a question.
“The basketball is like that,” Brown said. “It’ll tell you what needs to happen. So, Ant was hot, and we just kept going back to him. That’s what the game called for. A couple possessions that I got it in the fourth quarter, I just wanted to give him a break because he wanted to catch his breath for a little bit.”
Sam Hauser puts together one of his best games of the season
Sam Hauser, starting his 6th-straight game, put together one of his best all-around efforts of the season, finishing with 17 points, 3 assists, and 3 rebounds.
He hit 3 of 8 three-point attempts, including a go-ahead three with just over five minutes left in the game.
Hauser’s biggest play of the night came with just over a minute and a half to spare, when he tipped in a missed Luka Garza three-pointer to give the Celtics a 6-point lead.
While the tip-in was initially ruled offensive interference, referees overturned the call upon review. The putback ended up being one of the most gratifying moments of Hauser’s night.
“It’s a big play down the stretch to help seal the deal for us,” Hauser said. “So I think that’s the most important thing — just trying to make winning plays.”
Jordan Walsh and the Celtics devoured the glass
Sam Hauser credited Walsh and Hugo Gonzalez, among others, for providing the burst of energy off the bench that put the Celtics in position to win the game. Gonzalez was a team-best +19 in his 13 minutes off the bench.
“The guys coming off the bench kind of flipped the script a little bit, kept us in the game and helped us hang around just long enough,” Hauser said. “And then the last 15 minutes there, we played how we know we’re capable of. But we don’t want to rely on getting down 20 early like that often and having to come back. But credit to all those guys for keeping us in it for sure, Jordan and Hugo getting big rebounds.”
Mazzulla echoed that praise. After all, the Celtics outrebounded Miami 51-40, and grabbed 18 offensive rebounds, 11 of which came in the first half.
“Jordan [Walsh], Baylor [Scheierman], Sam [Hauser], Derrick [White], all those guys did a great job crashing — Luka [Garza],” Mazzulla said. “Those give you extra possessions. But those manage the runs. When you know you’re not playing the way that you need to, it manages those runs, and it kind of keeps you in. I thought those were huge offensive rebounds in the first half.”
Walsh, in particular, was an under-the-radar contributor in the comeback. The 21-year-old secured 3 offensive boards in the first quarter, finished with 8 rebounds in just 20 minutes of action, and was tasked with one of the most difficult defensive assignments of the game.
“Jordan’s versatility goes unnoticed a little bit,” Mazzulla said. “He’s another guy, he guarded [Bam] Adebayo the last two times we played them. He’s a guy that does a great job getting in-traffic rebounds, especially on the defensive end… he kept us in it with some of his driving attacks and closeouts and his offensive rebounds. He’s just a physical guy that is really versatile on both ends.”
Still, when it came down to it, the comeback was successful because Simons played some of his best basketball in green. His coaches and teammates made clear from the jump that his offensive aggression was needed in Miami. And, his backcourt mates never found a flow; Payton Pritchard and Derrick White combined for just 10 points as a duo.
“We know that any given night, it could be somebody’s night,” Simons said. “Tonight was mine.”
Simons’ offensive performance highlighted his uncanny scoring ability. But that type of high-volume offensive performance was also an unusual occurrence in his Celtics tenure; Simons attempted 28 shots on Thursday night, almost three times as many as his season average (10.9 shot attempts).
“That boy, he can play,” Brown said. “He’s probably more talented than the role that he’s placed in. I think that’s kinda obvious. But, I have hella respect for him to come out and play winning basketball and do what the team needs. Doesn’t complain.”
The Celtics are climbing the NBA standings
The victory propels the Celtics to a 25-15 record, good for second-best in the Eastern Conference. It snaps a two-game losing streak and marks their second-biggest comeback of the season (the Celtics erased a 20-point deficit against the Indiana Pacers last month).
“I’ve been on teams where you get down significantly, it’s tough to get back into the game,” Brown said. “Especially here in Miami, the crowd is behind them; they seem to have everything rolling. But that just shows the poise of our team, you know? We just stuck with it and just kept making plays, chipped away, and then we were back into the ball game. And then we just made plays down the stretch to close it out.”
Brown has frequently referred to the Celtics as one of the NBA’s top teams in recent weeks, and the numbers back him up. The Celtics have the league’s second-best offensive rating (121.4) as well as its second-best net rating (+7.1).
They have another big-time comeback win against an Eastern Conference foe under their belt.
“That’s the sign of a good team, honestly,” Brown said. “When you can come back from down big — and still find ways to win.”
