White returns to starting lineup for critical Game 3
Under dire circumstances in Game 6 against Philadelphia, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla moved Robert Williams back into the starting lineup, a shift that helped turn the series.
Facing a similar situation — down 2- 0 heading into Sunday’s Game 3 — Mazzulla changed it back. The Celtics returned to the smaller starting lineup that they played with for most of the regular season, inserting Derrick White in place of Robert Williams
The lineup change wasn’t much of a surprise after Mazzulla went back to start the second half of Game 2, when the Celtics started strong and ultimately turned a four-point halftime deficit into an eight-point lead entering the fourth quarter.
“I thought it gave us a different look,” Mazzulla said. “I thought we were able to change the matchups a little bit. I thought we got off to a good start.”
Part of the thought process to moving back into the starting lineup was to help the Celtics get into their spacing better offensively after some tough stretches with the double-big lineup. White had also been better to start this series, scoring 11 points each in Games 1 and 2 on 6-for-10 shooting from behind the 3-point line.
“The attempts are down in early offense, so we have got to dictate the pace, play a little faster to get those early in the shot clock,” Mazzulla said before Game 3. “And then obviously with their switching and their zone, they try to prevent those. We just have to play faster, whether it’s in transition or the halfcourt to generate those.
Unique connection
Jayson Tatum and Matthew Tkachuk are linked in a way they probably didn’t expect when they went to school together in St. Louis. Ten years later, the Celtics star and Florida Panthers star are playing on the biggest stages of their respective sports as they play in the NBA and NHL’S Eastern Conference Finals.
On four consecutive nights this week, Tatum and Tkachuk will play here in South Florida in some of the biggest games of their life, with Tatum’s Celtics facing the Heat in Games 3 and 4 on Sunday and Tuesday, and Tkachuk’s Panthers playing Games 3 and 4 on Monday and Wednesday up the road in Sunrise against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Tatum and Tkachuk were in the same grade at Chaminade College Preparatory School in St. Louis, and the roots of their friendship have taken notice recently. Tkachuk recently shared on a Bleacher Report podcast that they were in the same gym class for three years. And there’s a video that’s gone viral of Tatum and Tkachuk in a video project they did together in high school in 2013. The two still keep in touch today.
“Somebody I’ve somewhat kept in contact with through social media and stuff since we’ve left high school,” Tatum said Sunday. “Somebody I’m happy for and obviously he’s doing big things, especially this time of the year. I remember it, the video, we were in gym class and stuff like that. So yeah, he’s a good friend of mine.”
Tkachuk — who helped the Panthers oust the Bruins in the first round of the playoffs last month — could tell Tatum had a bright future back then.
“I don’t know if (Tatum) called his shot, but he’s like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to the NBA,’” Tkachuk said to Bleacher Report. “I was like, ‘ Yeah, I mean you’re way better than anyone I’ve ever seen.’ …
“He was not a cocky guy or arrogant at all,” he continued. “Super confident. Great, great, great dude. He’s such a stud.”
Extra fire
Before this series began, ESPN Analytics predicted that the Celtics had a 97 percent chance to win the series, with the Heat at a slim 3 percent. Even after the Heat took a 2- 0 series lead, the Celtics were still favored. They were given a 65 percent chance to win.
The Heat aren’t paying attention to it.
“We don’t care. At all,” Gabe Vincent said. “I don’t think we’re ever really picked for anything, so we believe in each other, we believe in what we can do. We’re just going to continue to play good basketball.”
The Heat may or may not take stock of that outside noise, but they are certainly fueled by last season’s ending, when they lost Game 7 of the Eastern Conference
Finals to the Celtics. Right after that loss, Jimmy Butler said the Heat would get back to this stage and finish the job. Bam Adebayo ripped his jersey off after Game 7 last year and that painful memory has pushed him, even if he doesn’t have the jersey anymore.
“I think Pat (Riley) has the jersey. That’s something Pat wanted,” Adebayo said. “But for me, being that close to being in another Finals, you’re going to rip your jersey off in anger, especially losing Game 7 on your home court. So it does fuel me, just because we were this close to going to another Finals.”
No time for chit-chat
Adebayo and Tatum are close friends — the Heat star recently said he’s known his Celtics counterpart since he was 12 — but locked in their second consecutive conference finals against each other, they’re not having friendly chats in the heat of battle.
“( Expletive) no,” Adebayo said. “I mean. Uh, no. … I don’t even talk to him on the court. He’s got on a green jersey, my jersey’s red.”