The shorthanded Boston Celtics, missing two of their best five players in Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis, handed the Miami Heat their sixth-straight loss of the season Friday night inside Kaseya Center 103-91.
Miami kept pace with Boston for three quarters, trailing 78-77. But the Heat predictably fell apart in the final frame, getting outscored 25-14 while shooting just 5-of-20 (25.0 percent) from the floor.
It was the fourth time this season where the Heat have scored less than 15 points in the fourth quarter this season, the most in the NBA.
Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 28 points on 8-of-21 shooting and 5-of-12 from 3-point range, corralling four rebounds with five assists. Jrue Holiday had a season-high 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting with five triples.
The Miami Heat have not beaten the Celtics in the regular season since Jan. 24, 2023. They have now lost seven straight games.
Andrew Wiggins tallied a team-most 23 points on 9-of-21 shooting while Tyle Herro had 19 points on 15 shots with five rebounds, six assists, two steals and two blocks. Miami shot 45.3 percent from the floor and 38.2 percent from 3-point range.
Bam Adebayo inexplicably took seven shots, which didn’t help matters despite Davion Mitchell posting a near 12-point, nine-rebound double-double in 35 minutes off the bench. Jaime Jaquez Jr. also contributed to 13 points and five boards on 5-of-10 shooting with a pair of corner 3s.
The Heat’s 29-37 record is the first time they have been eight games below .500 since 2014-15, one year after the Big 3 split. They will try to look going nine games below .500 tomorrow night on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies, one of the best teams in the West.
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All we can ask from the players is that they give 100% and let the chips fall where they may. I’m not going to ride that roller coaster of unrealistic dreams. What is important now is to give the young guys valuable playing experience and to fully evaluate the team to determine which players have a future in Miami and which ones don’t.
Was there at the game working, miami tried there best but in crunch time they wasn’t cutting it. I was standing next to one of them rabid fans when they started that Celtics take over chant smh.
The guys did their best. Matched the Cs in size and speed. The Cs were just better shooters.