Preview: Miami Heat host the Boston Celtics in an eastern conference clash
Miami probably wasn’t expecting their first home loss of the season to come at the hands of the Utah Jazz, to whom they fell 116-114 in overtime on Tuesday. However, the Heat (5-3) will have to put the defeat behind them and rebound rather quickly if they
hope to compete with the Atlantic division-leading Boston Celtics (6-2), who head to AmericanAirlines Arena on Thursday 11 November.
The latest debacle for a Miami team that has dropped two of its last three came against a Jazz squad that the Heat were dominating for most of the game, but simply could not put away. Miami, whose largest lead in the contest was 22 (during the second quarter),
was ahead by 21 well into the third stanza, and even held a seemingly secure eight-point margin in the game’s final minute. However, although the Heat have been widely praised for their play on the defensive side of the floor thus far this season, they couldn’t
seem to keep Paul Millsap, who finished with 46 points, off the scoreboard.
Prior to the season, Miami had been both lauded and criticized for their prominent off-season acquisitions of superstar forwards LeBron James and Chris Bosh. And, if Tuesday night’s meltdown was any indication of the new squad’s lack of familiarity with one
another, Miami still has a lot of things to figure out if it hopes to contend for a title this season. Echoing those sentiments, James told reporters, “We still have a long way to go to be the team we want to be.”
Still, as a former point guard, Doc Rivers knows that team chemistry is a key facet in the NBA, and remains hesitant to underestimate how potent this Miami team has the potential to be. “It’s just going to take time,” the Celtics coach said prior to his team’s
practice on Wednesday. “They’re going to have great nights, and then they’re going to have nights where they struggle. To me, I’ve always thought in the first year we won, it always came toward the end of games more, the execution, the timing, the speed. It
just takes time.”
Similarly, Heat guard (and fan favourite) Dwyane Wade knew that it was going to take some time for him and his new teammates to gel. However, he may not have been prepared for the ways in which the new forwards’ arrival would impact the squad.
“It hurts. It hurts to take time. No one wants to go through the process,” the veteran, in his eighth year out of Marquette, told reporters. “But it’s life. Everyone has to go through the process. No question, we understand that we’re a very good defensive
team. We understand that our offense is coming along. And sometimes you take those things for granted.”
Possibly the most glaring statistic for a Heat team that had been playing impressive basketball defensively all season, was their forfeiture of 72 second-half points in their recent loss to Utah. But that didn’t surprise Boston’s Ray Allen.
“Utah’s one of the best teams in the league,” the Celtics guard said. “If you don’t execute down the stretch, then the momentum goes in the other direction. That’s kind of how I look at it.”
However Miami decides to view their recent shortcomings, the Heat better prepare themselves for Thursday night’s clash with the Celtics, a team that fell just short of last season’s NBA title.
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