The Boston Celtics were well on their way to a Game 1 win over the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals on Wednesday night, and then they got steamrolled by a massive Miami run in the third quarter.
Miami was all over Boston to start the second half. The Heat outscored the Celtics 46-25 in the third quarter -- turning a nine-point halftime deficit into a 12-point lead entering the fourth quarter.
The Heat did pretty much everything well during that explosive third quarter. They made their shots, they defended well, they owned the glass, they scored in transition and they played tougher. It was an impressive showing, especially on the road.
POSTGAME POD: Catastrophic third quarter costs Celtics in Game 1 loss to Heat | Listen & Subscribe
Despite seeing their lead cut by more than half in the fourth quarter, the Heat held on for a 123-116 victory at TD Garden. It was their sixth consecutive Game 1 win.
What happened to the Celtics at the start of the third quarter Wednesday?
Boston Celtics
"I feel like they got going. We gave them some easy looks in transition, and defensively our intensity wasn't where it needed to be," Celtics guard Jaylen Brown said postgame. "We were up 10, I guess we were a little comfortable. To start the [third] quarter they turned it up and ended up finishing the quarter -- we were up 10 to start coming out of halftime and finished being down 10 going into the fourth quarter. That just can't happen."
The Heat brought a much higher level of intensity, focus and physicality to start the second half. The Celtics didn't come close to matching that.
"It's a choice. It's a decision. Just come out and play with a different mentality. We came out too cool," Brown said. "It was just almost like we were just playing a regular-season game. It's the Eastern Conference Finals. Like, come on. We've got to play with more intensity than we did today. We've just got to be better, including me."
Game 1 unfolded almost exactly like the series opener in the Eastern Conference Finals between these teams last season. In both games, the Celtics won the first, second and fourth quarters by a margin of 14 points combined. But the C's lost each time because the Heat outscored them by 20-plus points in the third quarter.
The Celtics are now in a tough spot. If they lose Game 2, they'll trail 0-2 in the series with three of the next five games in Miami, where the Heat are a perfect 6-0 in the playoffs. The encouraging trend for the Celtics is they typically play well when facing adversity. Boston owns a 11-3 record after a loss in the playoffs since the start of last season.
"We've just got to keep playing basketball. We're too far to hang our heads," Brown said. "We're too far to look back and be like, the series is over. It's one game. So we've just got to get ready to play the next one. Made some mistakes tonight. Got a great opportunity the next game on Friday to come out and play and lift our intensity. I'm looking forward to it."