Erik Spoelstra makes surprising Celtics comments in blowout loss

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Erik Spoelstra makes surprising Celtics comments in blowout loss

Souichi Terada · MassLive

Thu, Apr 2, 2026 ·

2 min read

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The Celtics ambushed the Heat with a franchise record first quarter Wednesday in Miami . The C's made 11 3-pointers on their way to 53 points in the opening frame alone, cruising to a massive lead. For a Miami team that has struggled defensively of late, it wasn't a great sign with Boston finishing with 147 points on the night.

But Miami coach Erik Spoelstra had a surprising reaction to the opposing point total following the Celtics' win over the Heat on Wednesday . Instead of pointing out the defensive miscues, he said the Heat were ready to play. It's just that the Celtics' shot-making was at a different level.

"This is gonna sound crazy, but this is different than the other games we're talking about," Spoelstra told reporters . "Our guys were locked in and competing. There was an exceptional level of shot-making on their part to start the game. There's probably a handful we could've been stronger on-balance to take away some of the 3s."

Now, for some context, the Celtics were red-hot from beyond the arc Wednesday. The C's finished 21-for-44 (47.7%) on 3s, cooling down after the first quarter. However, the Heat were actually even better from beyond the arc. Miami shot 24-for-47 (51.1%) on 3-pointers, including making 11 3s in the third quarter. It was a big reason why the Heat trimmed a 23-point halftime deficit to 10 by the fourth quarter.

So the Heat ended up with an edge at the 3-point line. But part of Spoelstra's comments came from how the Celtics shot inside the arc. That's where the main discrepancy was between the two teams. The C's were 35-for-52 (59.6%) on twos compared to the Heat at 20-for-48 (41.7%).

Spoelstra gave the Celtics their credit for making those shots. The Heat have had some defensive issues recently as they've been 2-8 in their last 10 games. However, it doesn't sound like Spoelstra thought it was all their defense Wednesday, but also because the Celtics were knocking down some tough looks all night.

"They shot a remarkable percentage," Spoelstra said. "It just felt like they didn't miss any pull-up jump shots from the areas that you would like teams shooting from. … They just made a high volume and high efficiency of shooting of right in that area. The area that everybody talks about. The two-point percentages between the two teams were a big difference."

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