Heat, Celtics both see room for improvement before Game 2

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — On the first off day of this season’s Eastern Conference finals, it might have been difficult to tell on Wednesday which team was holding the 1-0 lead in the series.

Based on what was said after practices, anyway.

“We need to play better,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said.

“We’ll look to play better,” Boston coach Brad Stevens said.

Their sentiments Wednesday

Thursday, 7 p.m. (ESPN)

were about as close as Game 1 was on Tuesday night, when the Heat rallied from 14 points down in the fourth quarter and — bolstered by a game-saving block by Bam Adebayo of a Jayson Tatum dunk attempt in the final seconds of overtime — took the series opener with a 117-114 victory.

Game 2 is Thursday, when the Heat will try to improve to 10-1 in this postseason and the Celtics look to avoid an 0-2 series hole, something even a franchise with the postseason lore of Boston has only managed to do once in eight tries this deep into a postseason. Miami wasn’t thrilled in Game 1 with bad first and third quarters; Boston’s area of focus was obviously how the game got away down the stretch.

“You just have to continue to keep the task at hand,” Spoelstra said. “Obviously, this is a super-competitive series. We were down (14) and it was for a reason. I mentioned that after the game, they were playing well, getting us out of what we typically do. It’s highlevel competition and you can expect a big-time response from them.”

Not surprisingly, of course, that is what Boston is seeking in Game 2.

The Celtics let the Heat be the aggressors in the final 16 minutes of the series opener, getting outscored 46-29 in that game-ending span as Miami shot 65% from the field to Boston’s 38%. Miami also took 17 free throws to the Celtics’ five.

“I think we’ve got a lot of improvements to make on defense,” Boston’s Jaylen Brown said. “I think we’ll make them” on Thursday.

Adebayo’s play at the rim notwithstanding, the Heat also saw improvements they could make.

But his play is still one that Miami is marveling about.

Adebayo said Wednesday that the coolest feedback he got on the play was a tweet from Magic Johnson, who called the block “the best defensive play I’ve seen ever in the playoffs !!!! ”

Dwyane Wade reached out with a text as well, as he has at many times in these playoffs, and Heat President Pat Riley told Adebayo that he would make sure the play gets immortalized — as most other top plays in team history have — with a giant image slapped on a wall of the team’s complex back in Miami.

“Bam is a great player,” Brown said. “Really carved out a space for himself in this league. Bam is set up for how the league is moving forward: big, athletic, can do multiple things.”