The Miami Heat’s late-game rally fell short against Boston as the visiting Celtics swept the regular season series against their rivals with a 110-106 victory on Sunday, February 12, at the Kaseya Center.
Already playing without Jimmy Butler and losing both Terry Rozier and Josh Richardson during the game, Miami cut Boston’s advantage to two with 1:49 left in the contest following a made Tyler Herro 3-pointer.
The Heat, which at one point was down by 15, had the chance to take the lead moments later but Haywood Highsmith missed an open look from deep. Boston was then able to secure the victory at the foul line after.
Tyler Herro finished with 24 points, scoring all but two in the second half, while Bam Adebayo recorded 22 of his own for the Heat, which dropped to 28-25. Duncan Robinson and Caleb Martin contributed 15 markers apiece.
Jayson Tatum and Kristaps Porzingis had 26 and 25 points, respectively, to lead Boston.
Boston has now won 6 out of the last 7 games against Miami, with the Heat’s sole win coming in Game 7 of last year’s Eastern Conference Finals.
Butler was granted a leave of absence by the Heat due to a death in his family. It remains uncertain when he will be back.
Rozier left the contest in the third period after landing awkwardly on his right leg. Josh Richardson dislocated his shoulder in the first half and did not return. Both players are scheduled for an MRI on Monday.
The Heat will be back in action in Milwaukee on Tuesday then take on Kyle Lowry and the Philadelphia 76ers on the road on Wednesday before the All-Star Break.
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Fate,Fate,Fate.
Yes, Fate plays games with us. Sometimes with some irony, Sometimes funny and sometimes not so funny. But at the end, Fate always win with matters concerning humans.
Yesterday’s game would have been Rozier’s 10th game with the Heat. I have seen and watched other players progress with their teams (The East contenders) after the trade, aka Dame, Porzingis, Jrue, Siakam. Similarly, I have been watching Rozier’s progress with the Heat. I was going to do a before and after analysis of his trade to the Heat after his 10th game.
Yesterday, was his 10th game with the Heat, but Fate decided that there will not be an analysis since he did not finish his 10th game. I have always respected Fate and saw the intervention of Fate during his 10th game. So, a before and after analysis after his 10th game will not happen. Again Fate has won over the intent of a human/alien, lol!
There is the line of thinking that the status quo before the trade was not a winning one. I will defer that to Fate, for Fate has also decided that maybe going forward the Heat will go ahead without his presence, perhaps back to the status quo minus one. The irony that Fate deals to us. I hope not for long, injury is nothing to be celebrated.
Injury has always been the most important factor that has been given its due recognition in this league and cannot be over estimated. Those who have under rated it, have learnt the hard way.
So to Rozier and JRich, I pray for and wish you a speedy recovery and that you come back sooner than expected to play the game you love most.
And to the reste of the team and the league, I wishe a healthier season going forthe.
I hope Terry and Josh are OK. Meanwhile, it’s next man up! Maybe Alondes Williams will be a blessing in disguise.
GO HEAT!!!
What can the Heat do if Terry Rozier has to miss an extended amount of time?
https://allucanheat.com/posts/what-can-miami-heat-do-if-terry-rozier-has-to-miss-an-extended-amount-of-time?utm_campaign=FanSided+Daily&utm_source=FanSided+Daily&utm_medium=email&sc=e0273490fd355e2c28bdb25751d41af65a4dd80936ff00a80be9866c97887955
It is what it is. Like everyone else, I like to win. However, even more importantly, I like to see my team’s players get along well together, play unselfishly as one cohesive unit and give everything they have to give. Sometimes you don’t have everything it takes to win it all. But there is no excuse for not giving it your all.
As long as our guys are playing their hearts out I’m good with wherever the chips fall. If Spo can get the most out of all his players (including all our bench players) and everyone is healthy by the playoffs, I’m sure any team we play will know they have been a dog fight. That’s all I can ask.
Before we get ahead of ourselves and talk about the future, let’s play this season out and see where the chips fall. There will be plenty of time to reassess everything when the season’s done.
The all-star break will be here soon. Hopefully, the players will have time to heal and get ready for the home stretch. I’m looking forward to seeing how it goes with Rozier fully acclimated and the rest of the guys eager to prove they have what it it takes to make another run. As far as I’m concerned, the glass is still half full.
GO HEAT!!!
Jalen Brown is a turd.
Do we know any news on Jrich & Terry? That would be devastating to lose them. Hoping for the best.
Feeling the same way. Particularly Rozier, who was just starting to find his footing.
The Heat fought valiantly. It gives us hope, but only if JRich and Terry can return reasonably soon. If we lose them or anyone else, it will severely hurt our chances. Injuries will happen, and that is part of the reason I urged trades. I am still urging a pickup from the buyout market, but only a top notch one, not what we got last year. Other teams are already getting players, although I am not sure Philly made a great choice.
BTW, I am not critiquing our players anymore. The trade deadline came and went. Now we just got to support what we have. Go Heat!
Injuries are obviously the story of this game. I tuned in midway though the 3rd quarter, so I didn’t see the Rozier or the J-Rich injuries, but it sounds like one or both of them might be done for the season? Seems relevant when playing against a Celtics team where all five of their starters have been healthy for the entire season.
The other thing I wanted to mention was defense. Specifically the defense of Tyler and Duncan, who were getting targeted the entire fourth quarter. Those guys definitely held their own on defense, forcing guys like Tatum and Brown into turnovers, shot clock violations, and frustration fouls. On the other side, Tyler was treating Jrue Holiday like a cone in shooting drills. I guess it’s only one game, but it’s a magnified version of what I’ve been seeing all season. I’m not saying Tyler and Duncan are better defenders than Jrue Holiday this season. But from what I’ve seen from Jrue last playoffs and this game, they’re not worse.
Duncan has his limitations but he doesn’t wilt against the good teams. And Ty found his game in a game against a top team, something he has not always done, and it should help him when the situation arises again. They both played adequate defense also. If I had my way of using them both, they would not be on court together too much and their defense would not hurt us at all. I do wish ORob got more opportunities, or even Bryant. That is where we get hurt sometimes.
Effort and defence was there. Still, I don’t see such constructed team can win a series against Boston, Clippers, Nuggets or Minnesota. That rapidly decreases the chances for Heat to go all the way.
But that’s not really problem for me. We cant be champs every year.
The problem is, that I have a feeling, that this approach came to the end of the road, and everything is squeezed out of the players and system.
So this is the path to oblivion, because Jimmy , Bam, and probably Herro wont be better, and we cant expect much more from Martin, JRich, Love, Haysmith and Rosier.
The obvious road ahead is, to go bigger. Which means, we need to incorporate into the system players like Jovic,JJJ, ORob, Cain. As soon as possible.
Bigger and similarly skilled as the smaller players. The NBA is just such a talented league.
In the grand scheme Jimmy has maybe another year or two (maaaybe) of being able to elevate his game to a top 5 level throughout the playoffs? Age comes for everyone.
But losing to the Nuggets–even as we did–is something every other team in the league would have done too. Not even a fully operational AD got the Lakers a win off of them. Beating that team would have been a true upset.
Yes, bigger and similarly skilled, true. I believe we have such kind in the team.
I prefer to lost such game for 30 playing Jovic or ORob with notion, that they are better times ahead, then lost it for 6 knowing that this is it.
I really like the comment about everything being squeezed out of our team. And, it is usually that team that seems to suffer the injuries the most. The load needs to be shared or it becomes too heavy a burden. That is why we needed more as Jimmy and Bam are asked carry us too much. The Celtics, for example, have their load more evenly distributed.
We may have already taken this team to its highest ground. If we do not get far this year, my current thought would be to break it up, trade Jimmy while he can still bring us back a lot, and see what we can do to reload. But, let’s see how the playoffs work out.
I always talk like what I say matters, which it doesn’t. But, it’s fun to think that way.
This was Brown’s tough guy act…
and Celts fans say Dunc “hooked” their player vids tells it otherwise. Brown tried to injure Duncan
yeah that play was dirty as hell. He could have broke Duncan’s arm. I’m surprised he didn’t get tossed. I also miss UD, he would have put Jaylen in the fourth row
It tells me that Jaylen Brown respects Duncan. For Jaylen Brown, the only way to stop Duncan in this sequence is by being dirty on Duncan.
Jimmy, my condolences.
I’m not usually into moral victories, but the heat played there butts off without Jimmy, jrich,and rozier. The celtics may have won the battle, but they haven’t won the war. They better sharpen up there skills because if we meet in the playoffs, they will be going up against a different team with playoff Jimmy leading us into the trenches of war!
Good for them Celts Jimmy was out. Just a 4pt loss. Congrats to them they won the regular season series convincingly. Rest and recover for our Heat team. Condolences to Jimmy and family.
we had a chance to take the lead with little time left hh missed a wide open 3.
The Good: Heat won the battle on the boards (39% vs 19%) inspite of its smaller size.
The Bad: The outcome.
The Ugly: The Injuries.
Great game under the circumstances. The team showed a lot of heart against a superior opponent. I hope Richardson and Rozier are OK. Consolences to Jimmy and his family.
GO HEAT!!!