Miami Heat fall to Boston Celtics on a painful Sunday
MIAMI — This one hurt.
Yes, the 110-106 loss Sunday to the Boston Celtics at Kaseya Center was painful. But that was only part of the pain for the Miami Heat.
After losing backup guard Josh Richardson in the second period with a shoulder injury, the Heat lost starting guard Terry Rozier in the third quarter with a knee injury, both finished for the day and potentially far longer.
With forward Jimmy Butler away from the team following a death in the family, it made the challenge of the league-leading Celtics all the more complex.
“Three of our key rotation guys go out, it’s definitely not easy,” Heat guard Tyler Herro said. “But the talk was to rally around each other.”
With the Heat doing just that, including some typically testy Heat-Celtics moments.
“Our group,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, “showed a tremendous amount of grit in that second half. There were a lot of things that weren’t going our way, including injuries.”
So, no, not as bad as the Heat’s 143-110 loss in this building to the Celtics three weeks ago, but this hardly was a super Sunday for Spoelstra’s team, which dropped to 28-25 and faces the likelihood of being without Butler, Richardson and Rozier for their final two games before the All-Star break — Tuesday at the Milwaukee Bucks and Wednesday at the Philadelphia 76ers.
“More than anything,” Spoelstra said, “you just feel for those guys. They’re competitors. They want to be out there.”
The Heat got 24 points from Herro, 22 points and 13 rebounds from Bam Adebayo, with Duncan Robinson and Caleb Martin each scoring 15.
The Celtics got 26 points from Jayson Tatum, 25 from Kristaps Porzingis and 20 from Jaylen Brown.
With the victory, the Celtics swept the three-game series, their first season sweep of the Heat since 2016-17.
“Amazing,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said of the game’s physicality, “reps of how it’s gonna be, reps of how it should be.”
Five Degrees of Heat from Sunday’s game:
1. Closing time: The Celtics led 26-22 at the end of the opening period and 59-50 at halftime.
The Heat then went down 15 early in the third quarter, before a 13-2 rally drew them within 69-65. The Celtics then pushed back to an 86-79 lead entering the fourth.
It then got testy with 7:54 to play, when Brown was called for a flagrant foul on Heat guard Robinson. Robinson then converted both free throws with the Heat retaining possession for an Adebayo three-point play that drew the Heat within 96-92.
From there, the Heat moved within 106-104 with 1:49 to play on Herro’s fourth 3-pointer and then forced a Celtics 24-second violation with 1:21 to play.
But after the Heat’s Haywood Highsmith was off with a potential go-ahead 3-pointer, Porzingis converted a pair of free throws to put the Celtics up four.
An Adebayo miss followed, as did a Boston offense rebound that effectively ended it.
Afterward, Robinson still had issues with Brown’s hard foul.
“I thought it was a dirty play, to be honest with you,” Robinson said of Brown seemingly attempting to pull Robinson’s arm out of socket. “Those are the kinds of plays where guys miss entire seasons.”
2. More injuries: Richardson went down in the paint after taking a jolt on defense early in the second period, then escorted off the court with 9 minutes to play in the quarter with what appeared to be a dislocated right shoulder.
X-rays were negative, with an MRI scheduled for Monday.
“I felt my shoulder pop out on the floor and then pop back in,” said Robinson, who exited with his arm in a sling. “Freak accident.”
Then, with 4:43 left in the third period, Rozier had to be helped off the court favoring his knee. Unable to shoot his free throws, Rozier’s game officially was over when the Celtics elected center Orlando Robinson to shoot free throws in his place. Robinson made both.
Rozier also is scheduled for a Monday MRI.
“Terry was getting a lot more comfortable,” Spoelstra said.
With the Heat limited by their position against the luxury tax while still carrying the contract of guard Dru Smith, who is out for the season with a knee injury, the Richardson and Rozier injuries could open playing time for Alondes Williams, the G League guard who on Friday was signed to a two-way contract.
Williams had been kept with the Sioux Falls Skyforce after his signing but now could join the Heat from the G League.
3. Jaquez starts: With Butler out, Jaime Jaquez Jr. was moved back into the starting lineup, having previously started during Butler absences.
That led to the Heat’s 28th starting lineup in their 53rd game.
It was Jaquez’s first start since the Jan. 14 home victory over the Charlotte Hornets.
Jaquez closed with six points and three rebounds.
The opening unit was rounded out by Adebayo, Herro, Rozier and Martin.
The shorthanded Heat still made it a fight to the finish.
“It’s still about having a chance to win down the stretch, which we did,” Robinson said.
4. Milestone moment: Adebayo’s fifth point was the 7,000th of his career, joining Dwyane Wade (21,556), Alonzo Mourning (9,459), Glen Rice (9,248) and LeBron James (7,919) as Heat players with 7,000 or more.
Adebayo was 7 of 7 from the line in the first half, after attempting only six free throws in his previous three games.
Of fighting while ultimately so shorthanded, Adebayo said, “At of the day we have to stay solid and work to the goal of winning the game.”
5. Herro’s 3-for-all: Herro made it 14 consecutive games with multiple 3-pointers, three games from his longest such career streak.
With his second 3-pointer, Herro passed Glen Rice for fourth on the Heat all-time list, now trailing only Robinson, Tim Hardaway and Eddie Jones.
After shooting 1 of 6 in the first half, Herro shot 9 of 15 in the second.
“I just felt a little more in rhythm,” he said, “also looking to attack more and be decisive in my minutes.”
