The Celtics had no fight at the end of Game 2

BOSTON — A troubling trend continued for the Celtics on Friday night, as Boston kicked away another late lead and let the Miami Heat steal Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Celtics had no fight to close out Friday night’s loss, and now the Heat own a 2-0 series lead after a 111-105 win at TD Garden. The Celtics did an incredible impression of a folding table down the stretch and pretty much gave the game to Miami, giving the Heat full control of the series in the process.

“It comes down to the details,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said after the loss. “This is a series of discipline and mindset, and there were times throughout the game we weren’t the more disciplined team.”

You can say that again. The Celtics didn’t hit a field goal for a four-minute stretch at the end of the game. They committed 15 turnovers in Game 2, which turned into 20 Miami points. They let Miami pull down 11 offensive rebounds, including three on one series late in the game that ended with a Bam Adebayo dunk to put the Heat on top, 105-100, with under a minute to play. The Heat attempted six more shots than Boston in the fourth, and were 12-for-22 for the quarter.

Jayson Tatum disappeared in the fourth for the second straight game, going 0-for-3 from the floor and scoring just five points at the free-throw line. He had two of Boston’s four turnovers in the quarter.

The Celtics had a 96-87 lead with 6:37 to play, but then let Miami out-muscle them the rest of the way. And when Boston had open looks, they didn’t hit them.

“They outplayed us and they out-toughed us,” Jaylen Brown said after his 7-for-23 night. “They found a way to make plays down the stretch and we didn’t.”

The only fourth-quarter fire from the Celtics came from Grant Williams, who talked a little smack to Jimmy Butler after the Heat star hit a jumper (and was fouled) over the Boston forward. Williams had just hit a three on the other end to put the Celtics up 96-87, but bumper heads with Butler backfired in a big way. The Heat ripped off a 26-9 run after the kerfuffle to take steal the game.

The Celtics now face the daunting task of climbing out of an 0-2 series hole, with the next two games in Miami. Boston may be 4-2 on the road this postseason, but no one will feel great if this series returns to TD Garden, with the Celtics a gruesome 4-5 at home in the playoffs.

“We have a real, real decision to make,” Grant Williams said after the loss. “Are we going to come back and set the tone, make a statement? Or are we going to come out and lay down. I don’t think this team is built to lay down.”

The Celtics have their work cut out for them if they want to prove Williams right in Sunday night’s Game 3 in Miami.