No Butler, no Rozier and no chance for Heat in 114-94 blowout (deficit reached 34) in series opener in Boston

What does one play-in loss to the Philadelphia 76ers and one play-in victory over the Chicago Bulls get you? Boston baked by the Celtics in your playoff opener.

BOSTON – What does one play-in loss to the Philadelphia 76ers and one play-in victory over the Chicago Bulls get you? Boston baked in your playoff opener.

Now 0-16 against the teams with the six best records in the NBA dating to the regular season, the shorthanded Miami Heat looked very much like the 14 1/2-point underdog they entered on Sunday – and then some –  falling 114-94 to the league-best Boston Celtics, at one point trailing by 34 points.

“It’s clear Boston controlled this game from the tip,” Heat coach Erik Spoelsra said. “They won the big-muscle areas, definitely won the 3-point line and the areas in between.”

Game 2 of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference opening-round series is Wednesday night back at TD Garden, a game the Heat again will be without Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier.

Armed with less than their best against the best, the Heat fell behind 14-0 at the outset and were rolled by the Celtics from there.

With the Celtics augmented by the offseason additions of Kristaps Porzginis and Jrue Holiday since the Heat won last season’s matchup in the Eastern Conference finals 4-3, the Heat found themselves facing something far more potent in the teams’ third consecutive postseason matchup.

While Bam Adebayo provided 24 points and rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. 16 points in his playoff debut, it was not enough to compensate on an afternoon the Heat got just 11 on 4-of-13 shooting from Tyler Herro. The Heat also got 17 points from Delon Wright, who shot 5 of 5 on 3-pointers, matching his career high for 3-pointers in any game.

Jayson Tatum scored 23 for the Celtics, who also got 20 from Derrick White, 18 from Porzingis and 17 from Jaylen Brown. Tatum wound up with his first career playoff triple-double, adding 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

“We have to do a much better job by Wednesday,” Spoelstra said.

Five Degrees of Heat from Sunday’s playoff game:

1. Game flow: The Heat went down 15 early and trailed 26-21 at the end of the opening period. The Heat deficit then reached 18 in the second period, before the Celtics went into the intermission up 60-45.

It got worse from there, a lot worse, with the Celtics taking a 91-59 lead into the fourth quarter, the Heat at that point 5 of 28 from the 3-point line, where they were outscored 57-15 through those first three periods.

At one point in that third period, the Heat converted just one shot over an eight-minute stretch that featured a 23-3 Celtics run.

The Heat eventually clawed within 103-88 with 3:57 to play, after outscoring the Celtics 29-12 to open the fourth, leading to a moment of Celtics concern and a Boston timeout.

“We had some pockets where it looked like us,” Spoelstra.

A White 3-pointer immediately followed.

“I feel like it’s a different ballgame if they don’t get off to a hot start,” Adebayo said.

Tempers later flared in the final minute, with Brown and Heat’s Caleb Martin called for technical fouls, after a hard foul by Martin.

2. Adebayo activates: Amid the rockiest of first halves for the Heat, Adebayo was the lone source of stability, the only Heat player in double digits with his 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting.

The rest of the roster stood at 13 of 31 from the field at that stage.

With the Heat’s options limited, Adebayo played the first half without an assist, with teammates’ missed shots factoring into that equation.

Included in Adebayo’ afternoon was what appeared to be a fourth-quarter 3-pointer, which would have been his first-ever in the postseason, but it instead was ruled a two-point basket.

Adebayo closed 10 of 18 from the field, with the Celtics bypassing double teams to instead concentrate on the Heat’s wings.

“If you’re not going to double me,” Adebayo said. “I’m going to try to go to score.”

3. Welcome rook: Jaquez went into the series excited for what would come next.

“This is something I wanted to be a part of ever since I was a kid,” he said ahead of Sunday’s game. “Playoffs is the most elite level of basketball in the entire world.”

He then was smacked in the face with three welcome-to-the-playoffs moments in the game’s first 1:55.

First he was dunked on by Jaylen Brown.

Then he saw his dunk attempt blocked by Jrue Holiday.

And then he was beaten off the dribble for a Jayson Tatum dunk on the way to a 9-0 Celtics lead and Heat timeout.

The Celtics eventually made it 14-0 before Adebayo opened the Heat scoring with a 12-foot jumper with 8:44 left in the opening period.

Jaquez then scored his first playoff points on his second attempt, a 9-foot jumper with 7:07 left in the opening period. (Points scored in the play-in round count neither toward regular-season or playoffs.)

To his credit, he came around with enough aggression to eventually turn his afternoon around.

“He gathered himself,” Spoelstra said. “We need him to be aggressive, so it’s not all just Tyler and Bam.”

Jaquez closed 8 of 16 from the field, with four rebounds and four assists.

“You could feel the difference from regular season to the playoffs,” Jaquez said.

4. Last wing standing: With Butler and Rozier out, Herro got a lesson on what life can be like as essentially the last man standing when it comes to Heat shot creation.

Herro went 1 of 5 during his initial stint, with Jrue Holiday able to take that defensive assignment with Butler and Rozier sidelined.

Herro fell to 1 of 8 before converting a 3-pointer with 67 seconds left in the second period, at 2 of 9 at halftime, with five points.

“They came out with intentions to put a lot of pressure on him, whether it was on the ball with pick-and-rolls, or off the ball,” Spoelstra said. “We’ll just have to find out the best plan to get everybody in rhythm,”

Herro closed 3 of 9 on 3-pointers.

“Credit to Boston,” Herro said. “I thought they came out with a lot of energy. They really applied pressure from the beginning on both ends of the court.”

In addition to Herro, the Heat opened for the second consecutive game with a lineup of Jaquez, Adebayo, Nikola Jovic and Martin.

The primary rotation then was rounded out by Haywood Highsmith, Wright, Kevin Love and Duncan Robinson.

5. Sam who?: As the 2021 NBA draft came to a close, without a selection in either round that year, the Heat reached a preliminary agreement with undrafted Virginia guard Sam Hauser to be part of the team’s summer program.

Shortly thereafter, the Celtics contacted Hauser’s agent with an offer of a two-way contract.

Hauser has been with the Celtics since, including 12 points on 4-of-4 3-point shooting in Sunday’s second quarter.

Hauser’s early effort helped stabilize the Celtics after the Heat had trimmed a 15-point deficit to five.

At the intermission, Hauser was 4 of 6 on 3-pointers, the Heat 3 of 14. The Celtics closed 22 of 49 on 3-pointers to the Heat’s 12 of 37.

“We knew that coming in, they’re a high-volume 3-point shooting team,” Herro said.