Heat (9-9) at Celtics (16-4) Game #21 12/2/24

The Celtics and Heat will face each other for the first time since the Celtics beat the Heat in Round 1 of the playoffs last season. This is the first of four games this season. They will meet again on April 2nd in Boston and will meet twice in Miami on February 10th and March 14th. The Celtics won the series 3-1 last season. The Celtics are 83-53 overall against the Heat and 43-23 in games played in Boston.

The Celtics are in 2nd place in the Eastern Conference, 1.5 behind the Cleveland Cavaliers after losing Sunday night’s game. They are 7-2 at home and 8-2 in their last 10 games. They are 14-3 against Eastern Conference opponents and after winning seven straight games, they lost their last game. The Heat are in 6th place in the East and 4-5th away from home. They are 6-4 in their last 10 games and 7-6 against Eastern Conference opponents. After winning two games in a row, they lost their last game.

While the Celtics have basically the same team as last season, the Heat have changed a bit. They lost free agents Caleb Martin (Philadelphia), Cole Swider (Pacers), Alondes Williams (uncontracted), Patty Mills (Utah) and Delon Wright (Bucks). They added Kel’el Ware with the 15th pick in the draft and Pelle Larson with the 44th pick in the draft. They also added Alec Burks in free agency.

The Celtics are playing for the second straight night after playing at Cleveland on Sunday. The Celtics are 3-0 for the second consecutive game. This is the first game of a 5-game homestand, followed by home games against Detroit, Milwaukee, Memphis and Chicago. They then visit Chicago in a home-and-home game and then travel to Orlando before another four-game homestand where they host Philadelphia, Indiana twice and Toronto.

The Heat also play on the second night of back-to-back games. The Heat are 2-0 on the second night of back-to-back games. They played in Toronto on Sunday and traveled to Boston for their second straight road game. They then return home and play four home games against the Lakers, Suns, Cavaliers and Thunder, with the knockout round being between Clevland and OKC.

Jaylen Brown (illness) and Derrick White (foot injury) missed Sunday’s game against the Cavaliers and both are listed as questionable for this game. Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday played on Sunday, but Tatum is questionable and Jrue is out for that game. Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford are both missing for this game as they both played on Sunday. Again, I have no idea who will actually be out and who will be starting, so I’m just guessing as to the starters.

For the Heat, Josh Richardson missed Sunday’s game and is questionable for this game due to illness. Nikola Jovic also missed Sunday’s game due to a left ankle sprain and is questionable for this game. Kel’el Ware missed Sunday’s game due to tendinitis in his right foot and is questionable for this game. Everything will be a game time decision. Jimmy Butler Butler suffered an apparent right knee injury in the 4th quarter of Sunday’s game and is out for this game. I suspect Jaime Jaquez Jr. will start in his place.

Likely Celtics starters

Grid view

PG: Derrick White
SG: Sam Hauser
SF: Jaylen Brown
PF: Jayson Tatum
C: Neemias Queta

Celtics reserves
Payton Pritchard
Luke Kornet
Jaden Springer
Xavier Tillman, Sr
Jordan Walsh
Baylor Scheierman

2-way player
JD Davison
Drew Peterson
Anthony Watson

Injuries/losses
Kristaps Porzingis (injury management) is out
Al Horford (toe) out
Jrue Holiday (knee) is out
Derrick White (foot) questionable
Jaylen Brown (illness) questionable

Head coach
Joe Mazzulla

Possible heat triggers

Grid view

Main actor: Tyler Herro
SG: Duncan Robinson
SF: Jaime Jaquez, Jr
PF: Haywood Highsmith
C: Bam Adebayo

heat reserves
Thomas Bryant
Alec Burkes
Pelle Larsson
Kevin Love
Terry Rozier III
Ke;’el Ware

Two-way player
Josh Christopher
Keshad Johnson
Dru Smith

Injuries/losses
Nikola Jovic (ankle) questionable
Josh Richardson (illness) questionable
Kel’el Ware (foot) questionable
Jimmy Butler (knee) is out

Head coach
Erik Spoelstra

Key Matches

Grid view

• 

  Derrick White
  
  

  Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images
  

• 

  Tyler Herro
  
  

  Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
  

Derrick White vs. Tyler Herro
Herro is the Heat’s leading scorer this season. He averages 23.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game. He shoots 46.5% from the field and 41.3% from distance. The Celtics need to keep him away from the 3-point line and defend him both on the perimeter and in the zone. At this point I’m not sure if White will play or not.

Grid view

• 

  Jaylen Brown
  
  

  Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images
  

• 

  Jaime Jaquez, Jr
  
  

  Photo by Andrew Lahodynskyj/Getty Images
  

Jaylen Brown vs. Jaime Jaquez, Jr
I originally had Jimmy Butler here, but he was ruled out, so I’m putting Jaime Jaquez Jr. in his place. I’m not sure who will actually start here, but I guess it doesn’t matter. Jaylen Brown missed Sunday’s game and may or may not play in this game. Whoever plays simply has to give their maximum so that the Celtics have a chance in this game.

Honorable mention
Neemias Queta vs Bam Adebayo
Adebayo is averaging 15.8 points, 9.4 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.8 steals per game. He shoots 42.8% from the field and 33.3% from distance. He is a threat when it comes to scoring and grabbing rebounds down the court. So the Celtics have to box him out and defend him well on the court, but he’s also going to shoot threes when he’s open, so the Celtics have to defend him on the sidelines as well. I’m not sure who will start here, but I picked Queta at random.

Key to the game
defense – Defense will always be the most important key to victory in every single game. So far this season, the Celtics defense hasn’t been as good as it was last year. The Celtics are 8th with a defensive rating of 111.0, while the Heat are 9th with a defensive rating of 111.2. The Celtics defense definitely struggled against the Cavs in their loss on Sunday. The Celtics allowed the Cavs to shoot 48.7% from the field and 47.2% from distance. They definitely need to play better defense against the Heat if they want to win. The Celtics need to defend the perimeter, especially since the Heat attempt 39.5 three-pointers per game and shoot three-pointers only slightly better than the Celtics at 37.9%. The Celtics need to work harder on defense and make it a priority.

rebound – Besides defense, rebounding is always the key to victory. As Pat Riley once said, “No rebounds, no rings.” The Celtics average 43.3 rebounds per game (18th), while the Heat average 42.9 rebounds per game (22nd). It takes effort and commitment to get rebounds, and the Celtics will have to put in more effort and effort than the Heat to get rebounds if they want to win this game.

The next man – With three players questionable for this game and another three ruled out, the Celtics need every player on both ends of the court to step up and contribute. You need a strong team that gets off to a good start again. The reserve players must attack and keep up the energy and get their shots off, and most importantly, each player must play lock-down defense and also crash the boards.

Move the ball – The Celtics are tough to beat when they keep the ball moving and find the open man, but when a player over-dribbles and falls into the hero ball, they falter. At the end of the Cavs game, Jayson Tatum dribbled the entire time without a pass on two crucial possessions in a row and missed contested layups on both possessions. He needs to continue doing what makes the Celtics successful and keep the ball moving. Everyone knew he wouldn’t pass the ball, so instead of taking an open shot, he dribbled into a crowd of Cavaliers. Keep the ball moving and don’t fall into hero ball either in the first or fourth quarter. Hero Ball rarely works.

Play hard for 48 minutes – The difference between the Celtics’ wins and losses this year is the amount of effort they put in on both ends of the court. The Celtics need to be more aggressive when it comes to free balls, rebounds, attacking the basket and defense. You must give your full effort from the opening tip to the final whistle. Hopefully they have learned from their defeats and won’t let up for a minute in this game. You must be in control of the game from the opening tip to the final whistle. The Celtics have to be the tougher team both physically and mentally.

X factors
Home game and tiredness – The Celtics can’t assume they’ll win since they’re at home, as they’ve already lost two home games this season, while they only lost four home games all of last season. Both teams had to travel overnight and both teams are playing in back-to-back games. The Heat will be playing in front of a hostile crowd and in an unfamiliar arena, while the Celtics will have the crowd behind them to give them motivation. There may be signs of fatigue as the game progresses, particularly for the inferior Celtics.

Officiating -Officiating is always a crucial factor in any game. Every crew acts differently. Some call it close, others let them play. The Celtics must adjust to how the referees call the play and not allow poor calls or no calls at all to distract their focus from playing. The more aggressive team will usually benefit from the calls and therefore the Celtics must be the more aggressive team.

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