Celtics Get Caught Cooling Off in Disappointing Third-Quarter Collapse Against Heat

The Boston Celtics stumbled out of TD Garden on Wednesday night with their tails between their legs after suffering a 123-116 loss to the Miami Heat in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. After leading 66-57 at halftime, the Celtics were outscored 46-25 in the third quarter, resulting in Miami taking back homecourt advantage in the series.

"It's a choice. It's a decision," explained Celtics forward Jaylen Brown. "Just come out and play with a different mentality. It's the Eastern Conference finals. Like, come on. We've got to play with more intensity than we did today."

Marcus Smart echoed Brown's assessment, saying, "The only thing we need to adjust to is picking up our physicality and playing some damn defense. We've got to come together and we've got to start helping each other out on both ends." When asked about his lack of timeouts in the third quarter, coach Joe Mazzulla said, "Don't call two in the first quarter. Save it for the third-quarter run."