Despite a late comeback, the Miami Heat lost to the Boston Celtics 105-95 Sunday night.
Staring 10 games below .500 right in the face, the Miami Heat let yet another opportunity slip right through their fingers, and it was downright ugly.
At one point, Miami trailed the Boston Celtics by 22 points, their largest home deficit of the season.
Sparked by Isaiah Thomas’s 23 points and powerful elbow, the Celtics handled the Heat 105-95, handing coach Erik Spoelstra and company their 10th home loss of the season.
Avery Bradley scored 20 and Al Horford added 17 points, eight rebounds and seven assists as the Celtics beat Miami for the fifth consecutive time.
Goran Dragic led Miami with 31 points and Hassan Whiteside recorded a monster double-double with 23 points and 17 rebounds, but it was clearly not enough against a Celtics team that has had the Heat’s number as of late.
Here are five big takeaways from last night’s loss:
1. Even in defeat, Goran Dragic is back
Dragic is no stranger to criticism since his arrival in Miami, however, the recent weeks have proved that the veteran point guard is all but finished. Tallying 31 points, seven assists and five rebounds, nailing five three pointers in the process. While Dragic’s effort numbers are certainly impressive, he committed five of the Heat’s 23 turnovers. Needless to say, if you’re coach Spoelstra and your starting point guard commits 22 percent of your team’s total turnovers, something is clearly off. As the old saying goes, Dragic giveth, and taketh away.
2. Hassan Whiteside will be an All Star
Although he’s had his moments of anguish and frustration, Whiteside’s body of work this season warrants that very title that has alluded so many players in the past. Finishing the night with 23 points, 17 rebounds and three blocks, the NBA’s leading rebounder continues to pay dividends for the Heat night in and night out. Boasting averages of 17.4 points and 14.7 rebounds on 59 percent shooting, there aren’t many big men in the east better than Whiteside, and it’s time everyone see that.
3. Justise Winslow still has some rust
Coming into the season, I openly heralded Winslow as the next face of the Heat. While averaging a career-high 11 points on the season, the second-year man out of Duke has seen his field goal percentage drastically drop to an abysmal 34 percent on the season. Even worse? He’s shooting 24 percent from beyond the arc and a mere 64 percent rate from the charity stripe. While Winslow’s offensive game remains a work-in-progress, he is beyond capable of assisting in other areas. It’s time he step up and realize that.
4. Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers…
Coming into last night, Miami averaged right around 13 turnovers on the season. Needless to say, committing nearly twice that amount won’t result in very many victories. Three of the Heat’s active five players committed five or more turnovers, resulting in 24 Boston points. What else is there to say?
5. Mind boggling free throw struggles
Adding insult to injury, not only did Miami give away the ball away with regularity, they also missed their fair share of free throws, a trend that is becoming scarily common. Of the 25 free throws taken against Boston, Miami made a mere 14, good for an anemic 56 percent rate. Already universally regarded as the worst free throw shooting team in the league (which they are,) the Heat certainly didn’t help their case this go-around.
Miami (9-19) will remain home for a showdown with the Orlando Magic tomorrow night at 7:30 PM ET.