Heat’s Caleb Martin returns to TD Garden for first time since memorable East finals, but won’t play

Almost exactly five months ago, Miami Heat wing Caleb Martin was putting the finishing touches on the best stretch of basketball in his life.

On May 29, Martin recorded 26 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 shooting on threes, 10 rebounds, three assists and one steal to help lead the Heat to a win over the Boston Celtics at TD Garden in Game 7 of last season’s Eastern Conference finals. Martin averaged 19.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game in the East finals while shooting an ultra-efficient 60.2 percent from the field and 22 of 45 (48.9 percent) from three-point range.

Heat star Jimmy Butler was named the East finals MVP, but Martin finished second in the voting.

“That’s probably top of the top just because the stage it was on,” Martin, 28, said of where that series ranks among his basketball accomplishments. “Ultimately, I don’t think it’s how I was playing. Because I feel like I’ve always known I can play like that with the amount of minutes and the amount of involvement. Whatever the game was, I knew I could do something like that.

“I had flashes throughout the year, even throughout some of last year. But ultimately, it is at the top. Just getting us to the NBA Finals and closer to the ultimate goal in basketball of winning a championship. So to be able to get that close and also being able to contribute to that was huge for me.”

Martin returns to TD Garden for the first time since that memorable moment on Friday, but won’t play when the Heat opens a three-game trip against the Celtics in Boston in an East finals rematch because of left knee tendinosis. The Heat continues the trip on Saturday against the Minnesota Timberwolves (8 p.m., Bally Sports Sun) to complete the road back-to-back.

Friday’s game in Boston brings back all the positive memories from last season’s East finals, but also reminds Martin of what happened in the series that followed when he averaged just 7.4 points per game on 37.5 percent shooting from the field and 5 of 15 (33.3 percent) on threes in the NBA Finals. The Heat lost to the Denver Nuggets 4-1 in the best-of-7 championship series.

“I’m reminded about it a lot,” Martin said of his performance in last season’s conference finals. “But the crazy thing about it is every time I think about it it’s as such a high of your own of playing like that and playing on a stage like that, but ultimately you get reminded of losing [in the NBA Finals] every time it’s brought up. So as much as I would love to enjoy it and I have those moments where I enjoy it, I have a lot more moments where it just hurts thinking about it. Getting that close and how hard it even just to get to that point, and not being able to finish.”

But Martin proved something important to himself during last season’s East finals after going undrafted in 2019 out of Nevada and then being released by the Charlotte Hornets in August 2021 before joining the Heat a month later.

“That just showed me what I’ve always thought I can do and I’m capable of,” Martin said. “For me, it’s just to continue to gain that respect with my peers and with the league. I hold a lot on respect. So that’s what I think I play for, holding myself to a certain standard and just earning respect throughout the league is big for me, too.”

Another thing that last season’s East finals did was force teams to re-think their scouting report on Martin. The Celtics helped off Martin in the conference finals to clog the paint in hopes of slowing Heat stars Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler, and Martin made them pay by hitting a team-high 22 threes in the series.

Martin doesn’t expect many opponents to use that same strategy against him this season after he overcame that coverage during last season’s playoff run.

“I became one of those wild cards because I’m not involved all the time and I don’t get plays run for me and stuff like that,” Martin said. “But to know somebody is capable of doing that while not getting plays called for me, you do have to alter your stuff a little bit. But if they don’t, you take that personal. That’s just more fuel to the fire. With a team that has Jimmy and Bam and Tyler [Herro], you have to give up something. So I also understand that, too. But I take everything to heart.”

BOSTON’S NEW FACES

The Heat and Celtics are very familiar with each other, but Boston’s new additions add a new layer to the ongoing rivalry between the two teams.

After the Heat eliminated the Celtics in the East Finals in May for the second time in the last four seasons, Boston traded for two-time All-Star and five-time All-Defensive guard Jrue Holiday and talented big man Kristaps Porzingis. The Heat was one of the teams that also pursued Holiday when he became available last month after initially being dealt to the Portland Trail Blazers in the Damian Lillard trade.

Of Boston’s addition of Holiday, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said: “He fits in very well. He’s a winner. I think you can put him on any team and he would figure it out. He’s going to complement guys on the roster, he’s an elite defender as we know, he’s an elite competitor, he fills in a bunch of different gaps offensively and he’s aggressive. But he also knows how to play off of guys, which is really a compliment to his winning mentality.”

Of Boston’s addition of Porzingis, Spoelstra said: “No doubt that he gives them something different. More space. He was really good in the opener against New York. When he’s healthy, he’s always been a really tough guy to scheme against because of his size, his shooting ability. He has one of the quicker releases in the league and it definitely looks like he’s moving a lot better.”

INJURY UPDATE

Three Heat players were ruled out for Friday’s road game against the Celtics: Haywood Highsmith (left knee sprain), Josh Richardson (right foot discomfort) and Martin.

Martin played in the season opener and traveled with the team to Boston, but sat out Friday’s contest after missing most of the preseason with his knee issue. Highsmith and Richardson, who both also missed the season opener, did not travel to Boston for the start of the three-game trip.

“They’re working with [the Heat’s senior director of rehabilitation] Jeff Ruiz around the clock in our facility,” Spoelstra said of the decision to keep Highsmith and Richardson in Miami during the team’s trip. “So we’re trying to fast track that as much as we can. What does that mean? I don’t know. But they’re getting the work that they need to there.”

Meanwhile, the Celtics are fully healthy for Friday’s game.