Miami was the site of a massive Eastern Conference battle tonight, featuring two teams with an extensive history of intense on-court battles. For the Heat, who came in at 21-19, the game was a chance to get back on track amid a rough stretch of basketball. Even for a Celtics team without Jayson Tatum, they carried a familiar poise tonight as they pulled off a double-digit comeback to secure the win (119-114) in enemy territory.
The Heat controlled the game for most of the night, right until that fourth quarter, where they were outscored by 15 points (36-21). Like he has all season, Norman Powell led the way for Miami with 26 points, three rebounds, two assists, zero blocks, and one steal on 66.7% shooting from the field and 33.3% shooting from three. Tyler Herro joined him with 22 points, two rebounds, three assists, three steals, and one block on 60.0% shooting and 57.1% shooting from three. At center, Bam Adebayo dropped 22 points, four rebounds, five assists, zero steals, and zero blocks on 42.1% shooting and 42.9% shooting from three.
For the Celtics, Anfernee Simons exploded for 39 points off the bench to go along with four rebounds, four assists, one steal, and zero blocks on 46.4% shooting and 43.8% shooting from three. Jaylen Brown tallied 27 points, seven rebounds, zero assists, zero steals, and zero blocks on 37.5% shooting and 28.6% shooting from three. Finally, Sam Hauser contributed 17 points, three rebounds, three assists, one steal, and zero blocks on 54.5% shooting and 37.5% shooting from three.
This Heat led for most of the night, but something happened in that final quarter to completely flip the game. Really, there were mistakes from the very beginning for the Heat, and the problems that surfaced tonight threaten to disrupt all the momentum they’ve been building in this post-Jimmy Butler era.
Kel’el Ware In The Dog House
Second-year center Kel’el Ware was once a feel-good story for the Heat this season, emerging as an early candidate for Most Improved Player. Today’s game, however, shows just how much the Heat have lost trust in his abilities. He played just eight minutes against the Celtics and didn’t play at all in the second half. He went -8 on the court with a final stat line of three points, five rebounds, zero assists, zero steals, and zero blocks on 20.0% shooting (1-4 from three).
He didn’t do much in the limited time he had tonight, playing with an unmistakable carelessness on the floor. After the game, Spoelstra did little to provide clarity on the situation, but he challenged the young center to match his play from 7-8 weeks ago, when he was “stacking good days.” For now, it remains unclear when/how Ware can re-earn a more steady place in the rotation, but this situation is one to monitor as things grow increasingly uncomfortable for the entire team.
No Answer For Anfernee Simons
The Heat made 15 three-pointers, which was nearly matched by Anfernee Simons alone. In 34 minutes off the bench tonight, he dropped 39 points, four rebounds, four assists, one steal, and zero blocks on 46.4% shooting and 43.8% shooting from three (7-16). He scored 18 of those points in the final 12 minutes, leading the Celtics to an impressive comeback down the stretch.
Despite being the fourth-ranked defense this year, the Heat had no way to slow Simons down, as he defeated everything they threw his way. Overall, while Miami was holding strong for the first three quarters, they lost their focus and confidence toward the end as Simons got hot and outplayed their defense. This has been a recurring theme for the Heat this season, who have notably struggled to maintain their focus through all four quarters.
Questionable Rotations From Spoelstra
Whether Spo was experimenting with lineups or trying something new on the fly, his rotations weren’t entirely sensible tonight, given what they were up against. Besides the Ware situation, his biggest mistake was playing Nikola Jovic at center, who struggled to make an impact in the role with three points (1-6 shooting) in 15 minutes.
Additionally, Simone Fontecchio got 16 minutes tonight, despite barely making a difference with three points, four rebounds, zero assists, zero steals, and zero blocks on 0.0% shooting (0-2 from three). For reasons Spoelstra hasn’t explained, he leaned on his bench to start the fourth quarter, and that gave the Celtics the opportunity they needed to run away with the game.
Minimal Bench Production
Kasparas Jakucionis was the only light off the bench for Miami, with 12 points, five rebounds, eight assists, zero steals, and zero blocks on 75.0% shooting and 75.0% shooting from three. Every other bench player combined to go 2-18 from the field for just nine points. They were outscored 56-21 in bench points.
Outside of their big three, the Heat were struggling to generate any kind of offensive rhythm, finishing just 44.8% from the field. It speaks to a larger depth problem for this team, one that puts additional pressure on the starters to carry all the load. Until the Heat can acquire reinforcements, Spoelstra may continue with these unstable rotations as he looks for any consistent production.
