I was under the impression that Duncan Robinson had attempted zero two-point field goals in the series prior to this game against the Celtics. That information was incorrect to an extreme degree: he actually had attempted ONE two-point field goal in the series (a decreased from their first-round series, where he shot five, and their second-round series [which I don’t remember at all], where he shot 3). I will find the person responsible for misinforming me and hold them accountable. In the likely event that that person is me, I will NOT hold myself accountable, because DownToBuck answers to no one, not even himself.
The Heat built a fairly sizable lead based off of one of the most unexpected occurrences in the entire Bubble to this point: Robinson getting into the paint and making layups. Notice the plural. LayupS. Multiple. A preponderance. It’s telling that as soon as he stopped getting into the paint and making layups, the Heat gave up their lead and ended up getting kinda blown out a little bit. I can just imagine Brad Stevens, shaking with anger, saying in a slightly raised voice during a timeout “Shoot, guys, can’t we play some defense?”. I know if I ever saw Stevens get that angry I would definitely want to play defense extra hard.
Robinson also added an even more rare midrange jimbo (including a foul, which probably brings it from “rare” to “ultra mega rare” or possibly “literally never-before-seen”) to his scoring collection, emboldened by the fact that his team was getting blown out and he could thus do whatever he wanted. It’s one thing to make a few layups; once you get in there, the layup itself is usually a pretty high-percentage shot. Midrange jumpers are the mark of a true scorer, something that Robinson has to work on if he ever wants to stop being a memey white three-point specialist.