The Heat bench outplayed the Celtics bench by a pretty wide margin over the first three games of the Eastern Conference Finals, and it was a huge reason why Miami jumped out to a commanding 3-0 series lead.
The Celtics finally got their first win of the series Tuesday night in Game 4 on the road, and superior bench play was a key factor in the outcome.
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The most notable bench performance came from Grant Williams, who scored 14 points with six rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block in 29 minutes. Boston outscored Miami by 15 points when Williams was on the floor.
"Grant comes in and adds to winning," Celtics guard Jaylen Brown said after his team's 116-99 win. "When he plays composed and keeps his head, he can be a tremendous asset. Just gotta keep talking to him, keep letting him know where the game is at, keep telling him to make the plays, play within his role, and I think he did that tonight."
One of the best ways to predict whether the Celtics are going to win is the amount of 3-point shots they make. It seems obvious, but the Celtics are a bit of an extreme case because they often take so many of these shots. The C's are 9-2 in the 2023 playoffs when they hit 13 or more 3-pointers. When they connect on 12 or fewer, their record is 0-6. Boston hit 18 in Game 4.
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Williams is a good outside shooter and can help the Celtics reach the level of 3-pointers they need to win. He went 4-for-6 from beyond the arc in Game 4 and is shooting 63.6 percent (7-for-11) in the series so far.
Williams' minutes have been kind of all over the place during the playoffs.
He didn't play in Game 1 against the Heat. He played just 15 minutes in Game 1, Game 5 and Game 7 combined versus the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round. He didn't play in Game 6 of that series, either. Williams also didn't play in Game 1, Game 2 or Game 5 of the first-round series versus the Atlanta Hawks, and he played just 36 minutes total in that six-game series.
Despite the inconsistent playing time, Williams has been ready when called on. Celtics guard Marcus Smart praised Williams for keeping that focus.
"Huge. Huge. He's a great professional. His professionalism is underrated," Smart said of Williams. "We talk a lot about Grant, but we love Grant and we love everything he brings to this team. You need a guy like Grant on your team to win, and he helps us win games. When he's playing like that and he's focused like that, we're going to be alright."
If Williams continues to be a threat from 3-point range and plays strong defense, the Celtics will have a good chance of extending this series to at least a Game 6.