The Miami Heat let another big lead slip away Friday night, falling 98-96 to the Boston Celtics at TD Garden to open a two-game road trip. Miami dropped to 27-26, while Boston improved to 34-18. The Heat will close the trip Sunday afternoon against the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena.
Third-quarter collapse strikes again
Miami’s season-long third-quarter struggles resurfaced in painful fashion. After building a 21-point halftime lead, the Heat were outscored 36-15 in the third quarter. Miami entered the night with the NBA’s fifth-worst third-quarter net rating, and Friday’s collapse erased what had been dominant first-half play.
Celtics flipped the game with a shooting surge
Boston struggled mightily early, shooting just 1 of 20 from three-point range in the first half and scoring only 38 points — its lowest-scoring half of the season. But the Celtics caught fire after halftime, shooting 13 of 20 from the field and 5 of 7 from beyond the arc in the third quarter. They erased the deficit, took their first lead with 9.1 seconds left in the quarter, and entered the fourth tied at 74.
Heat’s offense went cold at the worst time
Miami shot just 5 of 19 from the field and 2 of 12 from three in the third quarter. The fourth quarter turned into a back-and-forth battle with four lead changes and four ties, but the Heat missed their final three shots. Down two with eight seconds left, Miami had a chance to force overtime, but Davion Mitchell’s open corner three rimmed out with 2.7 seconds remaining.. Boston’s bench and stars powered the comeback
Payton Pritchard led the Celtics’ rally with 19 second-half points and finished with 24. Jaylen Brown scored a game-high 29 points. After hitting just one three before halftime, Boston knocked down nine threes in the second half to finish 10 of 36 from deep. The win marked Boston’s first victory when trailing by 20 or more points at halftime since April 2021.
Heat contributions and rotation decisions
Andrew Wiggins led Miami with 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting, including 5-of-7 from three. Bam Adebayo added 16 points, seven rebounds and one assist. Norman Powell returned to the starting lineup after missing three games for the birth of his first child and delivered 24 points, four assists and four steals.
Miami adjusted its lineup after halftime, inserting Simone Fontecchio for Pelle Larsson, who exited with a right elbow contusion and did not return. Rookie guard Kasparas Jakucionis received a DNP-CD despite being healthy, while Nikola Jovic logged just six minutes. Coach Erik Spoelstra emphasized that minutes must be earned, not gifted.
Extra battle: second-chance points
Boston again won the battle on the glass, outscoring Miami 20-12 in second-chance points behind 13 offensive rebounds. Newly acquired center Nikola Vucevic made his Celtics debut with 11 points, 12 rebounds and four assists off the bench, with Boston outscoring Miami by 11 points during his minutes.
Miami remains one of just three NBA teams that did not make a move before the trade deadline, joining the Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs.