On Wednesday night, a depleted Miami Heat team came up strong with a 90-89 victory over the Boston Celtics.
The Miami Heat started this week off with a loss to the 7-24 Atlanta Hawks in a close matchup, followed by a statement win over the No.1 ranked Eastern Conference Boston Celtics on the road. The NBA can be as unpredictable and as it can exciting, and tonight was the perfect example of that.
In the final matchup between these two teams, Miami’s collective depth proved too much for the Eastern Conference juggernauts. Kelly Olynyk’s career-high 32 points and six treys also contributed quite nicely.
Dion Waiters, still struggling to find his rhythm, contributed with 10 points and six assists. Josh Richardson continued his nice streak with 19 points, and six assists. And Tyler Johnson also came up big by out hustling Boston defensively, as he racked up 11 rebounds for the night (nine of them coming on the defensive side)
In their first meeting, Miami came out on top with an 104-98 win, and was the first team to stop their 16-game win streak in an unlikely turnout considering the luck they’ve had with the injury bug. This time, Miami came in shorthanded again, missing three of their starters; with Hassan Whiteside, Goran Dragic, and James Johnson out. Justise Winslow has also been out nursing a sore knee.
That certainly didn’t stop them from overcoming a sluggish first half that followed with a dominant third quarter though. They ran with a 2-3 zone that sparked a well-earned 15-2 run in that quarter.
Gassed and trying to keep up in the fourth, they maintained the lead after a Celtic 13-3 run. They even fazed Kyrie defensively at the end, making him take an unbalanced shot that could’ve won the game for the Celtics. In the end, it was Olynyk’s heroics and hustle back in his former home that earned the Heat their 16th win, bringing them back on top of .500.
Even head coach Brad Stevens couldn’t deny Olynyk’s dominant game tonight.
"“He played a great game. I’m certainly happy for him. It was definitely at our expense. Second time in a week one of our former players came in and gave it to us.”"
Miami has found a solid group with Bam Adebayo and Jordan Mickey in their post. Even Wayne Ellington continued his hot hand, with three 3-pointers for the night. But who knows how long the Heat can keep up this play, with only nine players in their rotation.
Next: Miami Heat: Taking a closer look at forward Jordan Mickey
They go back home Friday night when they face the Dallas Mavericks, who have also been having a lackluster start to their year. Here’s hoping we get some of our starters back, so they can build off this Celtics win momentum.