Celtics need to increase their intensity and effort to defend the 3-point line against Heat

The Celtics had numerous defensive breakdowns that helped the Heat reach a franchise playoff record with 23 3-pointers in Game 2 on Wednesday night.

About four or five of those three players came in transition, coach Joe Mazzulla estimated. The Heat drove the floor and were rewarded with open looks.

Some things, like opponents’ tight shots, are beyond a team’s control. However, backing up on defense and putting your hand in a shooter’s face is not one of them. The Celtics can control their efforts in the transition game, Mazzulla said.

“After every game you always have to go back to the things you can control first,” Mazzulla said. “That’s the most important thing. We can control our offensive execution, we can control our transition defense, we can control a decent percentage of those three.

“Each game has its own life. Game 1 and Game 2 were two completely different games. You have to be ready in the middle of the game to make those quick adjustments, whether individually or schematically, on both ends of the court.

Tyler Herro gave the Celtics shots in a pick-and-roll action at the top of the key with Bam Adebayo. Herro went 6 for 11 from 3-point range, scoring a team-high 24 points by unleashing various step-backs. He also dished out 14 assists and helped unlock Caleb Martin, who had struggled (0-4) from three in the opener.

Martin made five of his six shots from beyond the arc in Game 2 en route to 21 points. Four of Martin’s five threes came on open looks generated by Herro in the pick-and-roll. When the help defense closed in on him, Herro fed Martin before the Celtics could rotate.

The Celtics sometimes lacked the awareness to properly defend the 3-point line, center Al Horford said.

“We just have to be better. We need to defend the 3-point line better,” Horford said. “They shot a lot of them, at a high frequency. I know we will be better in the next match. There will be more awareness around that and for us defensively, we will make sure we continue to do a good job of getting stops and keeping them on one shot.

There was a point with just under six minutes left in the first quarter when Herro pulled not one but four Celtics with him on a drive to the basket.

Jaylen Brown chased Herro from behind. Kristaps Porzingis and Payton Pritchard slid in to help on both ends. Horford jumped to contest a shot attempt that never happened. Instead of trying to complete a layup with four defenders surrounding him, Herro fired an over-the-shoulder pass to Adebayo in the middle of the paint. Celtic fifth Derrick White drifted towards Adebayo who sent the ball to Nikola Jović in the corner.

Miami rookie Jaime Jacquez Jr. ran a few steps to the top of the key and waited, ready to shoot a wide-open three. The closest Celtic to him was Porzingis, who had barely reached the free throw line by the time the ball left Jacquez’s hand. It was about as open as a shooter could be in an NBA playoff game.

Boston finished second in the league in defensive rating (110.6) and held its opponents to the fourth-lowest 3-point shooting percentage (35.2) during the regular season, making the performance on Wednesday all the more surprising.

Miami shot 32.4 percent (12-37) from three in the opener. The Heat only took six more attempts than in Game 2, but were able to capitalize on open looks.

Horford said the Celtics need to increase defensive intensity going forward.

“We know what we have to do, especially watching the film and understanding that they had a lot of beauty,” Horford said. “We just need to make them feel us a little more and increase our pressure.”