It is imperative that this Celtics-Heat series ends on Wednesday

Celtics

No disappointment. Not giving the Heat a glimmer of hope. No tempting fate.

This cannot be forgotten in the fog of worrying news and fear of more bad news to come.

That can’t be drowned out by the worry that overwhelmed Celtics fans Monday night when Kristaps Porzingis — the unicorn, the presumed missing piece, the happiest Celtic you’ve ever seen — limped off the court with 2 minutes left. and 27 seconds left in the second quarter, a scene that looked an awful lot like one that foreshadows extended absences.

This cannot be lost.

This cannot be forgotten.

The Celtics went down to Miami and did exactly what they had to do.

After the Heat evened the series with an aberrant shooting performance (a franchise playoff record 23 3-pointers) in a 10-point Game 2 victory in Boston, those old concerns about ability of the Celtics managing prosperity – not to mention a fiery, sensationally driven underdog – who came roaring back.

Turns out the Heat no longer had any outliers available to them in their place. The Celtics won Saturday’s Game 3 by 20 points and Monday’s Game 4 by 14 after leading by 28 points.

The Celtics’ star wasn’t Jayson Tatum (who played a solid overall game with 20 points and 11 rebounds, but didn’t attempt a shot until less than 2 minutes left in the first quarter) and Jaylen Brown (17 points). 7 of 18 shooting, 6 turnovers) looked suspiciously like Oshae Brissett at times.

The star, hands down, was Derrick White. He scored a career-high 38 points – 16 in the first quarter – made eight 3-pointers, blocked 3 shots and delivered so many highlights and huge buckets that it’s hard to pick just one .

So why not choose two? They are remarkably similar and happened less than a minute apart in the third quarter. With 6:31 left in the third quarter, Jrue Holiday sent a pass to White underneath for a quick dunk, which should have been an and-1. At the 5:50 mark, Holiday and White connected for a nearly identical play and another dunk, extending the Celtic lead to 67-41.

For the record and just because, our third choice for a White highlight would be the contested 3 he buried in Duncan Robinson’s face with less than 5 minutes remaining in the first half for a 44- 31.

The unwavering confidence White now displays didn’t seem possible when he arrived from Spurs mid-season in 2022 and has at times played with palpable hesitation just to try and fit in. Now, he so often delivers sensational performances and memorable moments that to point to one of them (like this one), the Derrick White game ultimately serves as a reminder that there was a lot by Derrick White Games during Joe Mazzulla’s tenure.

It should also be noted that White delivered the dagger 3-pointer with 49.5 seconds left. The outcome wasn’t really in doubt, but the Heat have a way of making you think a game is close when your team leads, oh, 13 points with a minute and 10 seconds left. They make you do the math, force you to recognize those creeping thoughts about how it would play out if everything went wrong.

It’s stressful, and part of it comes from old Celtics habits and unwanted flashbacks to past matchups with better Heat teams. But mostly, it’s the way an NBA game comes and goes.

White ended the suspense, real or imagined, providing further proof that the Celtics are at their best when the ball is in his hands.

Ultimately, they weren’t perfect, but the Celtics did what they needed to do in Miami. As they return home for Game 5 on Wednesday, it’s imperative they do it again.

No disappointment. Not giving the Heat a glimmer of hope. No tempting fate.

Make necessary cases unnecessary.

Porzingis’ injury, of course, looms large over everything. The sequence leading up to it was so strange, perhaps in retrospect disturbing. With 3 minutes, 13 seconds left in the half, he limped into view after appearing to step on the foot of the Heat’s Tyler Herro.

Less than 20 seconds later, he was carried by human bumper car Bam Adebayo – who would later enter Jayson Tatum’s airspace to contest a shot after the whistle, leading Tatum to landing on his foot and rolling his ankle. (He seemed fine, but those instant flashbacks to Game 7 of last year’s conference finals, when he got hurt on the first play, weren’t pleasant.)

Porzingis limped after rolling his ankle and colliding with Adebayo, and in hindsight it is somewhat surprising that Mazzulla, one of his many assistants, or one of the assistants’ assistants, didn’t didn’t try to pause the game to catch it. over there.

It would be pure speculation to wonder whether the minutes leading up to the injury – described as a calf strain – increased the possibility of its occurrence, which happened when he pushed off with his right leg after receiving a pass from Brown and immediately got up and waved out of the game.

What we do know is what ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported: that Porzingis did not appear to have an Achilles tendon injury but would undergo calf imaging on Tuesday.

Porzingis missed seven games earlier this season with a calf issue, and common sense suggests he won’t be on the field for a while.

While we wait for more details, the natural question is how long can the Celtics continue their true quest for Banner 18 without him?

The answer? This series, and perhaps the next against the winner of the Cavaliers/Magic game. The Knicks, whose strengths such as relentless offensive rebounding can exploit Boston’s weaknesses, would be a scary matchup if the Celtics were without Porzingis in the East Finals.

But that’s a worry for later. The Celtics must be busy, once again, for a third game in a row, against the Heat. This will give Porzingis a head start on his recovery, should the Cavs-Magic series go to the limit. This will provide everyone with the necessary rest, if not barely any relaxation.

The NBA playoffs are both a test of endurance and an obstacle course. One of their own, one of the best, is limping, but the Celtics can’t slow down now.