The Miami Heat came out at the beginning of their Game 5 clash looking as though they were prepared to go the distance. Measurably outworking the Boston Celtics at every opportunity, the Miami Heat crashed their own offensive glass, they made the extra effort plays, and they forced turnovers.
Though they weren’t cashing in on all of those opportunities early, they were able to do enough to maintain control of the game in the first half. Then, as the second half got underway, the wheels totally fell off.
Not making shots the entirety of the game, the Miami Heat proceeded to regress in the second half to a team that, not only, wouldn’t give the same relentless effort that they did in the first half but still couldn’t make shots.
When they weren’t making them in the first half though, their commitment to working harder kept them afloat.
The Miami Heat came up short in Game 5 on the back of an offense that, once again, came up short too. A Game 7 won’t happen if they can’t find it in Game 6.
Again though, when that work ethic dropped off in the second half, it became a long night for the Miami Heat.
Looking at their shooting numbers can almost leave you depressed. The team that led the NBA in three-point shooting percentage throughout the season turned into a shell of themselves.
Though that isn’t an anomaly in this series, it hurts no less to see. The Miami Heat missed 38 threes.
Going 7-45 from range, they would combine to shoot 15.6 percent from out there. That’s a big “wow”, but here’s the real kicker.
Their overall shooting wasn’t that much better than that. In total, they missed 64 shots to go 30-94 from the field.
That equates to only 31 percent shooting. Their overall field goal percentage looked like a three-point shooting percentage and to be quite fair, that still wouldn’t have been a great percentage from three either.
Rest assured though, the Miami Heat can force a Game 7. They just can’t do it if they come out in Game 6 and play like they did in Game 5.