The Miami Heat knew what they were up against on Wednesday. After a Game 4 letdown that saw the Heat starters stink the joint up on offense, they couldn’t possibly be any worse in Game 5, could they?
Well, they weren’t quite as bad, but they weren’t that much better. Neither team was, as the game was a rather low-scoring affair. However, the Miami Heat were able to be the best team in the first half because they outworked Boston.
The Miami Heat forced turnovers. They crashed the offensive boards.
Heat outscoring the Celtics 16-2 in second-chance points.
— Anthony Chiang (@Anthony_Chiang) May 26, 2022
They didn’t always take full advantage of those created or extra opportunities, but they were putting themselves in the position to be able to do so. In the second half, the Miami Heat, simply, didn’t play with the same effort.
The Miami Heat played on half of ball worthy of winning Game 5 on Wednesday. But, one half won’t ever win a game, which is why they were defeated.
Taking a, 42-37, lead into the half, the Miami Heat would allow the Celtics to go on an, 8-0, run to begin the third period to put them up three before the Heat would ever score in the second half. It seemed over from that point.
The Miami Heat didn’t play with the same effort or grit. They didn’t have the same fight from the first half that help supersede their poor shooting, which meant that a lead of seven points or more felt insurmountable as the Celtics got there.
Which is the next thing. The Miami Heat had to play such a gritty game in the first half and were defeated because they couldn’t keep it up in the second half—all because they couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn again.
The best three-point shooting team in the league through the regular season, the Miami Heat would see themselves go 7-45 in Game 5. In case you’re no mathematician, that’s a cool 15.6 percent from three-point territory.
You can’t win that way. The Miami Heat also only shot 31.9 percent from the field, 30-94, to be precise.
The starters did score more than 18 points combined in this one, with Bam Adebayo getting 18 on his own but they shot 15-55, combined as a starting unit, to do it. It was tough to watch.
Listen, they can force a Game 7. It’ll be hard if they play the same way they did in the second half of Game 5 though, especially if they can’t find their offense again and quickly.