Heat's loss in Boston reveals huge gap between them and defending champs

After scoring the first seven points of the game, the Miami Heat's offense went stone cold and could not keep up with the Boston Celtics. With no Jimmy Butler heroics to save them due to Butler being out with a knee injury along with Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo combining to go 12-for-37 from the floor, Miami ultimately fell apart and were defeated 108-89 Monday night to the Boston Celtics at TD Garden.

Let's now take a look at the negatives of the game along with some few bright spots from a game that was very forgettable.

The good: Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Dru Smith

Jaime Jaquez Jr. was inserted into the starting lineup with Butler being ruled out due to the injury suffered Sunday against the Toronto Raptors. While Jaquez did not shoot the ball well, Jaquez created of rim pressure and attempted 12 of the teams 23 free throws. Jaquez was also active on the glass, finishing with 10 rebounds with a few of his rebounds leading to easy baskets in transition with some very nice outlet passes.

It has been a rocky start to the season for Jaquez, but if Butler misses anymore time, Jaquez will be called upon to make up an impact at that forward spot, and Monday night was a step in the right direction.

Another player that had a positive impact in his minutes was Dru Smith. As soon as Smith checked in, Smith scored five quick points and gave Miami a boost off the bench that was desperately needed.

Smith's play made a good impression on Erik Spoelstra, who decided to start Smith in place of Duncan Robinson in the second half. With the Heat down 15 to start the second half, Smith forced two steals on back-to-back Celtic possessions that led to five quick points for the Heat.

With the Heat lacking offense, Smith was summoned to cause some havoc defensively and force some turnovers which was accomplished. I would not be shocked if Smith is a player inserted for a jolt of energy if the Heat find themselves in a hole.

The bad: Bam Adebayo's offensive outing

Out of all the poor shooting performances Adebayo has had this season, Monday night's outing was at least a bottom-three showing, given the circumstances. Adebayo had another poor scoring night, scoring only 15 points on 33% shooting.

Adebayo went against a depleted Celtics front line with Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis out, and with Adebayo's main matchups being Luke Kornet and Neemias Queta, Adebayo struggled mightily on the offensive end.

Adebayo made his first shot of the game with a midrange basket over Kornet with the shot clock winding down, but unfortunately a plethora of misses followed. Adebayo got to his spots at times and had favorable matchups such as Jaylen Brown deep in the paint, but could not capitalize.

Adebayo needed to have a big game in the absence of Butler, and it was disappointing for Adebayo to not even put up a respectable offensive output when needed the most.

The Ugly: The 3-point shooting

In the same building where the Heat made a franchise playoff record 23 3-pointers, Miami could not buy a basket from beyond the arc against a team that runs away with games by outscoring opponents from distance.

While the Celtics only made 34.5 percent of their 3s, they still made 19, compared to the Heat, who attempted 35 3s and only made eight (22.9%). The Heat's ball movement and dribble handoff action with Adebayo generated open looks for Duncan Robinson and Herro, but the shots were not falling for Miami.

To have any hope at taking down the Celtics on the road, the Heat had to at least stay close when it came to 3-point makes. The fact that the Celtics made 11 more 3s than the Heat was a big reason why Miami received a beatdown in Beantown.