Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Heat fall apart in the fourth quarter against the Celtics, losing their seventh game at home

The Heat failed to hold off the Celtics in Miami on account of getting wasted by Anfernee Simons in the fourth quarter and going colder than liquid helium. Miami’s top players, who were stepping up most of the night, shrank when adversity hit.

“Momentum really shifted probably when we were up 20 in the first half, and then they just started walking us down with the offensive rebounds and second chance points,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. 

Yet the Heat pushed the pace early, making six trifectas and seven paint baskets to close the first quarter with a 36-25 lead. The Celtics’ offensive rebounding and second-chance scoring did damage against the small unit, but Tyler Herro subsequently shot them out of a drought in the second quarter, with a pair of transition triples and a pick-6.

Bam Adebayo roamed everywhere and also added three extra baskets, plus Norman Powell sliced into the lane twice, keeping the club’s double-digit edge going into halftime (64-54). 

Jaylen Brown then torched them, getting inside the square when he pleased. Despite the Celtics not getting closer than six points in the frame, they were slowly unfastening the Heat’s defense like continuous body shots that lower the guard below the chin. 

The hosts surrendered their advantage after a flat start in the fourth, and their bench couldn’t keep up with Boston’s. Simons went on a heater that only a blizzard would extinguish, and at one point, went on an 11-0 run by himself, and totaled 18 in the fourth. They outscored the hosts by 15 in the period, which was Miami’s third-worst shooting fourth quarter of the season.

The Heat lost 119-114. 

Takeaways: 

The Celtics scored the most second-chance points this season by a Heat opponent (31). Nine first-half turnovers offset some of their impact, but they cleaned up their ball security after intermission and got stronger as the game went on. Additionally, Sam Houser’s left-side trey gave them the lead seven minutes into the fourth. Simons and Brown each seized it back before the final buzzer.  

It’s the halfway point of the season, and the Heat have a 21-20 record. They have dealt with tons of injuries, but they’ve had letdowns, like this game, and have been a bad team on the road. 

Adebayo was the best player on the floor in the first half. He had 17 points on 54.5% shooting and went on to miss nearly everything post-halftime. He’s a highly productive offensive player when he’s aggressive, using his athletic gifts on catch-and-go moves, but too often, he doesn’t keep it going for a whole game.  

The Heat were without two of their best playmakers- Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Davion Mitchell. The transition attack got weaker as the game went on, and their absence was mostly felt as the team ran out of gas late. 

Simons blasted the Heat, moving around screens and hunting weak defenders. He totaled 39 points, including seven 3-pointers. Spoelstra said, “There weren’t a ton of glaring breakdowns. He just went on an absolute roll, and we struggled to score…”

Kel’el Ware was benched for the second half. Spoelstra’s reasoning was “It was one matchup after the other. It was a tough matchup for him in Boston (Dec. 19) with all the coverages, and the same thing tonight.”