The Boston Celtics refound the win column down in Miami against the Heat. They pieced together an 19-point comeback to extend their winning streak at Kaseya Center to nine games.
Here's what stood out:
The Celtics only want the toughest battles
On the heels of two-straight losses, the Celtics decided that they’d like to give themselves the toughest battle possible. The first six minutes of this game were ugly. Boston’s offense generated nothing but missed shots and turnovers, while the Heat couldn’t miss on the other end.
By the time the Cs burned their second timeout of the game, Miami had already poured in 27 points with 5:42 left in the first quarter. Before Boston could even get into their bench, they were already down 19 points.
There are better ways to start a basketball game.
Boston’s bench is a real asset
How do you recover when your starters let you down?
Rely on a bench unit that’s been excellent as of late.
Boston’s first burst of offense in this game came when Anfernee Simons checked in. Simons knocked down some threes to help the Cs close the gap a bit, while his benchmates simply went to battle. Jordan Walsh, Luka Garza, and Hugo Gonzalez all made a point to chase offensive rebounds, creating some much-needed second-chance opportunities for the struggling Celtics.
By the time the first half came to a close, the Cs had already tallied 22 second-chance points on 11 offensive rebounds and cut the Miami lead down to just 10. Simons and Garza, who have become a bit of a dynamic duo off of Boston’s bench, had combined for 24 of the team’s 54 points.
The Celtics legitimately missed Josh Minott in this game
Josh Minott hasn’t seen the court in almost a month. Even before the young forward sprained his ankle last week, he was racking up DNP-CDs on a nightly basis. He’s been seen doing on-court work in recent days and might be nearing a return, but, man, could the Celtics have used him at times in this game.
Boston struggled (as they did most of the night) in the back half of the third quarter. Miami went small during this stretch and took advantage of Garza’s lack of quickness. This would’ve been the perfect moment for Minott to make his return to action. Minott, if you remember, spent plenty of time playing small-ball five for the Cs towards the beginning of their impressive run from mid-November into early-December.
His defensive ability and rebounding prowess could’ve given Boston a serious boost during what was a key stretch of the night.
Anfernee Simons was so good that he gets his own section
You read the header. Simons continued to score the ball well in the second half when the Celtics were on life support.
Simons was the life support. As outlined above, the Celtics could’ve had a better close to the third quarter. Alas, they went into the fourth quarter down by ten. With the way things had gone all night, this had the makings of an uphill battle. Anytime Boston had made a run, Miami would make a few shots or force some turnovers to kill the momentum.
The former Portland Trail Blazers guard led the Celtics’ final charge of the night with some incredible shot-making in the final 12 minutes. Ironically, it was his decision to pass out of a double-team that gave Boston their first lead since early in the fourth quarter. He found Sam Hauser for an open three to put the Cs up 101-100 with about five minutes remaining.
On the next trip down, he hit an insane stepback three to recapture the lead.
He poured in 18 points in the fourth, bringing his total to 39 on the night -- of course marking his season-high.