Celtics pay price for refueling Jimmy Butler: ‘I don’t know if I’m the best person to talk to’

Grant Williams poked Jimmy Butler, Jayson Tatum went cold again in the fourth quarter and the Boston Celtics are staring at a 2-0 deficit in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Throughout the season, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla has promoted his team’s ability to respond with angry resilience after poor games. They showed examples of it each of the previous two playoff rounds, mostly buoyed by big performances from their two All-Stars in Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

Boston couldn’t do it in Friday’s 111-105 Game 2 loss to the Heat that caused Miami to mistake Tatum for his zone ahead. He finished with 34 points and 13 rebounds, but went 0-for-3 in the fourth quarter with two turnovers. He scored his only points in the last 12 minutes on five late free throws. It came after he failed to take a shot in the fourth quarter of Boston’s Game 1 loss.

Brown was not much better, making only 1 of his 5 attempts from the field in fourth with a turnover. He finished with 16 points on 7-of-23 shooting from the field.

“I think they outsmarted us,” Brown said. “They outsmarted us tonight and they found a way to play along the stretch and we didn’t.”

While Mazzulla has received criticism in this series for some of his adjustments and decision making, Tatum said the lack of production is down to the players.

“We have his back, he has ours,” Tatum said. “Joe didn’t miss any shots tonight. He hasn’t had any substitutions. I missed shots, I had substitutions. So every time we lose I’m going to see what I could have done better to make sure we change the outcome.”

As bad as the night was for Boston’s biggest stars, the game changed after an exchange Williams had with Butler in the last quarter.

After hitting a 3-pointer to give his team a 96-87 lead, Williams yelled at Butler. He was then called for a foul on Miami’s next trip over the floor after being fouled when Butler dropped a short jumper with 6:22 to play in the game.

Words were exchanged and the pair went from forehead to forehead, spewing words back and forth before being quickly separated by their teammates and receiving double technical fouls.

Butler casually swung his safe free throw to complete the three-point play and trotted back down the field.

After a miss by Tatum and a rebound by the Heat, the ball made its way back to Butler, who was good on a running floater. It was part of a 15–4 nine-point run by Butler to give the Heat a 102–100 lead they never relinquished.

“I’m a competitor and I’m going to fight,” Williams told reporters. “He got the best of me tonight and at the end of the day it’s out of respect because I’m not going to run away from it. My mom always taught me, and so did my dad, you get your (ass) kicked and your don’t come back home until you come fight again.”

Butler said afterwards that the play got him going.

“I like that. I’m all for that. It makes me play in a lot more. It stimulates the will that I need to win a lot more. It makes me laugh,” Butler said. “I just don’t know if I’m the best person to talk to.”

The Celtics found that out the hard way.

It ruined what had been a solid night for Williams, who was put back into the rotation after sitting out the series opener. He played 25 minutes and had nine points, two rebounds and two assists off the bench.

But Williams said he won’t dwell on how the game ended. He said his focus, and the team’s, is to go to Miami with a view to returning to the series.

“I’ve fought and I’ll keep fighting,” said Williams. “He’s going to have to hit every hard shot for the rest of the series, and I’m not going to look any different because I respect him.”

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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