It was not a pretty night for the Miami Heat Thursday in Miami. Highlighted by turnovers and missed shots, it was the least amount of points scored by the Heat in a regular season game since January 7th of 2016. On the other side of the court, the Boston Celtics who won decisively, played well using a 33-point second quarter to down the Heat.
Heat Blunders
The Heat started off well and led by six after the first quarter. However, their offense quickly fell apart. In the second quarter, Miami was held to just nine points and gave up 33 to Boston. Then in the third as the clock winded down, Kyle Lowry was injured by Duncan Robinson whilst Duncanson attempted to sell a foul on Jaylen Brown. Lowry headed straight to the locker room and was later ruled out of the game with a sprained left ankle.
The Turn-Around
The Celtics defense had a quick turn-around all of a sudden while in Florida. The Celtics, who called a players-only meeting before their game against the Orlando Magic, have won two straight games since. They also have held both of their opponents to under 80 points. This comes as a big aid for the Celtics who had given up more than 110 points in every game except one this season. Boston’s offense also shot well, going 39% from beyond the arc and 85% from the free-throw line. Dennis Schroder led the way off the bench scoring 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting with six assists and five boards.
Stats
Miami’s shooting was atrocious on Thursday, shooting 22% from downtown and an abysmal 68% from the line. Committing 18 turnover and 19 fouls, Miami was out of this game before the second half even began. The Boston Celtics offense was not overpowering, but it was good enough. In fact, the Celtics didn’t have a single-player score more than 17, but they put in a collective effort. The Celtics outboard Miami by one and limited turnovers to 16. All and all, it was a bad loss for the Heat and a great game for the visiting Boston Celtics.
Next Up
The Miami Heat will stay in Miami to face off against the Utah Jazz on Saturday night. Meanwhile, the Celtics will travel to Dallas to take on Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks.