Payton Pritchard put it plainly at shootaround. Take care of the ball. Set the tone defensively. When the Celtics lost earlier in the series, he continued, it stemmed from turnovers.
It’d been repeated so often it wouldn’t be surprising if Ime Udoka said nothing at halftime after Boston turned the ball over 10 times and gave up nine offensive rebounds to a Heat offense that the Celtics held to 38% and 42 points before halftime. Boston sat with 37.
The Celtics’ defense gave them enough breaks to escape their offensive lulls, turning around a disastrous start into a runaway second half led by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown that put them on the brink of the NBA Finals, winning 93-80.