Takeaways from Heat’s big road win over Celtics, and an updated look at the playoff race
The Miami Heat and Boston Celtics faced off in the Eastern Conference finals last season. Less than a year later, they faced off with hopes of avoiding the play-in tournament.
The stakes were certainly different on Sunday, but it was one of the biggest games of the season for both teams nonetheless.
Just like in last season’s conference finals, the Heat (37-31) came out on top in a 130-124 wire-to-wire win over the Celtics (35-33) Sunday afternoon on Mother’s Day at TD Garden. The two teams face off again in Boston on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
Sixth-place Miami moved two games ahead of seventh-place Boston in the Eastern Conference standings with just four regular-season games left to play.
The play-in tournament, which will be held between the end of the regular season and the start of the playoffs, includes the teams with the seventh-highest through the 10th-highest winning percentages in each conference.
The Heat dominated the Celtics in the first half, winning the opening quarter 36-23 and entering halftime with a 26-point lead.
But Boston put together a few runs to get back into the game and avoid a blowout home loss.
The Celtics made a third-quarter push to cut the Heat’s lead to 12, but Miami ended the period on an 18-9 run to enter the fourth quarter with a 21-point advantage.
The Celtics then opened the final quarter with a 28-13 run to trim the deficit to just six with 3:02 to play.
That’s the closest Boston would get, as Heat sharpshooter Duncan Robinson hit a deep 28-foot three-pointer to push Miami’s lead back up to nine with 2:42 left.
Jimmy Butler was the catalyst behind almost everything the Heat did Sunday on both ends of the court, especially late in the game. Butler finished with a team-high 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field and 7-of-8 shooting from the foul line, eight rebounds, 11 assists and two steals in 40 minutes.
After scoring just four points on one shot attempt in the first half, the methodical Butler was much more assertive in looking for his own offense in the second half with 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting, four rebounds and four assists in the final two quarters.
“They made a great push, but we were able to get the ball to Jimmy, get to our spots and just play off of his decision making,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “That just gives your team an incredible amount of confidence going down the stretch in close games.”
Heat center Bam Adebayo contributed 20 points on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting from the field and also 10-of-11 shooting from the foul line, six rebounds, three assists and two steals in 33 minutes. He scored nine of his 20 points in the fourth quarter.
The Heat won the first half 79-53, but the Celtics outscored the Heat 71-51 in their second-half comeback attempt. Evan Fournier led Boston with a game-high 30 points on 7-of-11 shooting on threes and eight assists.
“We won. That’s what I like about it,” Butler said after the victory. “Give up the lead, don’t want to do it. But if it’s worse if you give up the lead and lose. We did our job. We can do better. We should, we will be better.”
Here are five takeaways from the Heat’s win over the Celtics:
With another win over the Celtics on Tuesday, the Heat can clinch a top-six seed in the East and avoid the play-in tournament.
No. 6 Miami (37-31) now stands two games ahead of No. 7 Boston (35-33) with four regular-season games to play. If the Heat can win again Tuesday, it would move three games ahead of the Celtics and clinch the head-to-head tiebreaker over Boston with just three games left on the regular-season schedule.
One of the many reasons that Tuesday’s game is massively important is because it will decide the tiebreaker between the two teams. The Heat-Celtics season series is currently tied 1-1.
“It certainly adds incentive,” Robinson said of the stakes attached to Tuesday’s game. “Games this time of the year no matter what are going to be high stakes, high level, highly competitive, especially coming off this game. The familiarity will be high as well. So it’s certainly going to be a battle.”
The Heat also now holds the same record as the No. 5 Atlanta Hawks at 37-31, but the Hawks are ahead in the standings because they own the head-to-head tiebreaker after winning the season series over the Heat 2-1.
The Heat is one game behind the No. 4 New York Knicks (38-30). Miami owns the tiebreaker over New York after sweeping the season series.
The Heat is four games ahead of the eighth-place Charlotte Hornets (33-35).
The Heat has struggled without Adebayo and Butler on the court this season, but the supporting cast has been playing better lately. And Adebayo and Butler still take over when they need to.
With the Heat’s roster nearly at full strength — only guard Victor Oladipo was out Sunday — the roster’s impressive depth is beginning to show.
Adebayo and Butler combined for 46 points on efficient 14-of-19 shooting from the field and 17-of-19 shooting from the foul line.
But the Heat’s supporting cast also turned in one of its most complete performances of the season. Heat players not named Adebayo or Butler combined for 84 points on 52.4 percent shooting from the field and 15-of-32 (46.9 percent) shooting on threes.
Robinson led the way with 22 points on 6-of-10 shooting from deep.
Trevor Ariza finished with 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting, four rebounds and three steals.
Kendrick Nunn added 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting
Tyler Herro recorded 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting off the bench in his second game back from a foot injury.
“The menu was diverse and a lot of guys felt like they were in rhythm and involved, and that’s when we’re at our best,” Spoelstra said.
The Heat has had a tough time surviving non-Adebayo-and-Butler minutes this season, entering Sunday with a plus-minus of minus-134 in 593 minutes without both Adebayo and Butler on the court, according to NBA WOWY.
But in Friday’s win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Heat won the non-Adebayo-and-Butler minutes 22-17.
That encouraging trend continued Sunday with the Heat outscoring the Celtics 17-15 in the six minutes it played without Adebayo and Butler.
Adebayo and Butler went on to score 20 of the Heat’s 25 points in the fourth quarter.
“A win is a win, man. I couldn’t care less if I shoot the ball zero times next games, I’m just out here to win,” Butler said.
The Heat picked a good time to put together one of the best offensive halves in franchise history.
Miami totaled 79 first-half points while shooting 65.1 percent from the field, 11 of 20 on threes and 12 of 12 from the foul line on Sunday. The result was an eye-opening 79-53 lead at halftime.
It marked the second-most points the Heat has scored in a first half in franchise history, only behind an 82-point first half on Feb. 22, 2020 against the Cleveland Cavaliers. It’s the third-highest scoring half in Heat history when including second halves.
The second half wasn’t as efficient for the Heat, but it still managed to score 51 points on 48.7 percent shooting from the field in the final two quarters.
In the end, the Heat posted its second-best single-game offensive rating of the season in the victory, scoring 128.7 points per 100 possessions. The Heat is 9-2 this season when finishing with an offensive rating of 120 or greater.
Before Sunday’s game, Celtics coach Brad Stevens praised the Heat and said Miami has the potential to be a “real handful” in the playoffs.
Stevens said: “The Heat have missed a lot of games with a lot of their players. We’re getting them almost full, obviously no Oladipo. But when they have everyone, they’re as deep a team as there is in the East with really good players. They’re obviously exceptionally well-coached, they do a lot of good things. But you start with Adebayo and Butler, and then you start thinking about who can be off the bench for them in a playoff series, how many different variations of ways they can play. If they peak and hit at the right time, which it looks like they will both with their play and with their health, they’re going to be a real handful.”
Including Sunday’s victory, the Heat is 9-3 in its past 12 games.
With another matchup between the Heat and Celtics looming on Tuesday, each team was without an important player on Sunday.
The Heat was without Oladipo, who missed his 16th consecutive game with right knee soreness. And the Celtics were without All-Star wing Jaylen Brown, who missed his third consecutive game with a sprained right ankle.
Oladipo and Brown were the only two players from both teams who were unavailable Sunday.
What will their status be for Tuesday’s matchup in Boston?
Oladipo remains out indefinitely and the Heat has not offered many details on his injury. But Oladipo did not travel with the team to Boston and the expectation is he’ll also miss Tuesday’s contest.
Brown, who was listed as questionable before he was ruled out for Sunday’s game, seems closer to a return than Oladipo.
This story was originally published May 9, 2021 at 3:44 PM.
