Miami Heat wing Jae Crowder reminded the Boston Celtics just what they gave up on when they traded him away with his Game One performance.
Game One of the Eastern Conference Finals goes to the Miami Heat, with Bam Adebayo winning the game with a block on a last-minute dunk attempt by Jayson Tatum. Jae Crowder, a former player for the Boston Celtics, put on a strong performance as well against his old team.
Despite his ties to the club, the 30-year old forward didn’t hold back on Tuesday night. He warned us of that when speaking with reporters before the start of this third-round matchup:
"“I do have relationships there,” Crowder said ahead of the start of the series. “It’s competition, man. Once I get on the court, I’ve been on the court with my own brother and tried to rip his head off, so that says what type of competitor I am. I just like to win. No hard feelings. I’ll still go eat lunch with you after, but I’ll kick your butt and then go have lunch with you. That’s what type of competitor I am. Obviously, those guys really, really know me very well and know that’s what I’m about.”"
Crowder finished the game with 22 points, five rebounds, two blocks, and a steal while knocking down five of his nine attempts from behind the arc. His play in Game One was only a continuation of the production Miami has seen from the forward since acquiring him at the trade deadline.
Not from Boston, no, it’s been a few years since Crowder laced them up and took the floor as a member of the home team at TD Garden. His journey since has been far from easy. It’s not hard to think he may blame the Celtics for the suddenly up-and-down path his career went down.
Crowder’s been traded by not one, but two, contenders over the last three years. First, it was the Celtics who sent him to the Cleveland Cavaliers as a part of the Kyrie Irving trade. Then after they shipped him out to the Utah Jazz after just 53 games, he landed with the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Miami Heat brought Crowder back into the limelight when they traded for him and Andre Iguodala, in a deadline move that Brad Stevens praised in a press conference earlier this week:
"“The Iguodala and Crowder acquisitions at the trade deadline were huge,” Stevens told reporters in a press conference this week. “And you knew right when they happened. Like, I think the opportunity for them to play small ball, with even more versatility, and to surround those great shooters with more skill, but also guys that could guard the best players on the other teams for multiple possessions for end of games, or those type of things, has added a great deal to their team.”"
Both veterans have come up huge for the Heat at different points this postseason, but neither’s contributions were enough to put the game away on Tuesday. It took All-Star caliber contributions from both Adebayo and Jimmy Butler to seal the first of a (potentially) seven-game series.
Going forward, it’s possible that Jae Crowder has already made his claim to the Celtics. As far as hard feelings, it seems less that, and more of an appreciation and respect:
"“May the best man win,” he said. “There’s such respect between the two of us, same coaching staff pretty much, a couple of players I played with over there. There’s definitely respect between the two.”"
After Tuesday night’s win over Boston, Crowder is now averaging 13.7 points and 6.1 rebounds, while knocking down 42 percent of his threes in 10 playoff games for Miami. They’ll need his contributions to continue if they’re going to pull out this series over the Boston Celtics.
Jae Crowder and the Miami Heat will continue on in the Eastern Conference Finals, with Game Two scheduled for Thursday night at 7:00 pm EST. Coverage will be provided by ESPN.