Photo credit: Heat.com
For the first time since the 2022 Eastern Conference Finals, the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat met in Miami again. After losing a tough Game 7 at home, Miami was looking for revenge on Friday. The game went back and forth with each team making big runs. However, the Celtics were able to hold off a Heat rally to win in the end. Boston’s top two players Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown both combined for 51 points. Tyler Herro led Miami with 25 points in the Heat’s loss. With the loss, Miami moves to 0-2 for the season. Here are my takeaways from the game.
Adebayo Aggressive Early and Making Shots
Even though Bam Adebayo struggled on opening night against the Chicago Bulls, aggression wasn’t the issue. It was the fact that he was missing shots. On Friday, he stayed aggressive, and the shots were falling. The Celtics gave him the mid-range jumper and he was hitting them. By the end of the first half, he had 12 points on 6 of 7 shooting. The issue was he kept getting into foul trouble. He picked up his first two fouls in the first six minutes of the game. And later in the third period, he had four fouls. Every time Adebayo went to the bench, the Celtics made huge runs. Miami tried to stay afloat with Dewayne Dedmon and Haywood Highsmith playing backup center minutes. Unfortunately, that didn’t work.
Defensive Issues Remain
Against the Bulls the other night, Miami’s defensive rotations weren’t good. There were late rotations, early switching, and not much communication. On Friday, it wasn’t much better. The Celtics two stars were able to pick up their isolation matchups pretty easily. Miami also allowed too many wide-open threes. Miami usually has success with switching and helping. However, they should consider mixing it up against a team like Boston. Maybe mix in some drop coverages at times with Adebayo on the floor. Last season, they were able to hold their own with drop coverages while Adebayo was out. It doesn’t hurt to mix it up throughout the season.
Offensive Issues
In addition to the defensive issues, there were issues on the other end as well. Miami’s offense was very stagnant at times. With the current roster, you would think the team would have better movement on offense. They have shooters who move well without the ball. Two on-ball creators on the floor at the same times as well. But yet, the offense remains stagnant with only two-man actions. And while the two-man action was going, the spacers were just standing still. With no movement, it’s easier for the defense to muck up things on that end of the floor. This is a team that cannot rely heavily on isolation plays. It’s an area Miami has to clean up as the season progresses.
Lowry Has His Moments
Heading into Friday’s contest, most of the eyes were on Kyle Lowry. Lowry had a bad showing against the Bulls on Wednesday. He had two points on 1 of 7 shooting against the Bulls. The pull-up triple wasn’t there at all. That changed on Friday. Lowry looked better than he was on Wednesday. He bounced back hitting on a couple of jumpers, especially the pull-up triples. When he’s hitting the pull-up triples, it changes things for Miami’s half-court offense. It opens up the pass to the roller with more space. Defensively, Lowry also had good moments. He drew offensive fouls, got in the passing lanes, and dove for loose balls. His effort on the defensive end in the third period spark a big Heat run to grab the lead. Lowry finished the night with 17 points and six assists.
Next up: The Toronto Raptors on Saturday.
