Following a massive win over the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden, the Boston Celtics traveled all the way down to the bottom of the East Coast for a date with the new-look Miami Heat. The two teams have been major rivals for the past few seasons, but one side has a very different look to them following the trade deadline—a Jimmy Butler-less look.
The night before the deadline, the Heat traded Butler to the Golden State Warriors in a monstrous five-team deal. They got back Andrew Wiggins, Davion Mitchell, Kyle Anderson, and a first-round draft pick, reshaping the outlook of the organization.
And Monday’s matchup against the Celtics was the first time the Heat got a look at what their new core could look like.
The Celtics exposed the Heat's Jimmy Butler trade return
With Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr. sidelined due to illnesses, Wiggins and Mitchell were both in the starting lineup. However, it seems as though both could remain there.
Alec Burks got the start, too, but he probably won’t stay there. That leaves Miami the option to roll with Mitchell, Herro, Wiggins, Bam Adebayo, and Kel’el Ware as their first five moving forward.
In their first quarter as members of the Heat, Wiggins and Mitchell looked okay, and the Celtics felt their presence.
Wiggins looked completely unafraid to pull up when he was open, and his defense has always been solid (he locked up Tatum in the 2022 NBA Finals when he was on the Warriors). He even blocked Tatum at the rim in the first quarter. Mitchell, known as a defender since his college days at Baylor, brought just that in the first half against Boston. Miami jumped out to an early lead.
But by the time the second quarter rolled around, the Celtics found a rhythm. They got some steals, which led to easy buckets in transition, and that eviscerated Miami's once 11-point lead. But that shouldn't define Miami's first look at their post-Butler group.
While the defense-first identity that Wiggins and Mitchell bring to the Heat is a very good thing, the offense just wasn't there. Not having Herro was a huge part of the problem, but even Miami's defense got exposed by half-time. And it was thanks to Sam Hauser.
Boston's three-point attack was extremely weak throughout the entire first half... except for Hauser. Time and time again, Miami's defense lost him, and he made them pay.
The Celtics offense that looked rough in the first few minutes of the game completely turned around, and the Heat were left in the dust.
And to make matters worse, the trio of Wiggins, Mitchell, and Anderson was abysmal on the offensive end in the first half. They shot a combined 3-of-17 from the field.
There's still plenty of time for Wiggins, Mitchell, and the Heat to turn things around, and trading Butler for the haul they got was still a solid deal. But in the first half against the reigning champs, they were toast.