NBA: Celtics chill the Heat to end Miami’s five-game winning streak
Miami, Florida - The Boston Celtics were on the road, dominating one of the NBA’s best in the Miami Heat on Thursday night.
The Celtics made easy work of the Heat, beating them 95-78 for their second-straight win and snapping Miami’s five-game winning streak in the process.
It was another strong showing of defense by Boston, and the Heat proved to have previously hidden weaknesses that the Celtics exploited early on.
After trailing by six at the end of the first quarter, it was Boston who turned up the Heat on Miami, as a 33-9 second-quarter point total developed into a commanding 51-33 halftime lead.
The Celtics’ success over one of the Eastern Conference’s top teams was mostly thanks to a tough half-court defense that forced the Heat into bad shot after bad shot, ending up in a dismal 9-for-41 record from behind the three-point line.
Boston never looked back as they would eventually enjoy their largest lead of the game, a 26-point lead in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.
The player spotlight
While it wasn’t one of the more spectacular performances, guard Jaylen Brown (25) was the best player on the floor for the Celtics.
The team got a great effort from pretty much everyone, including three players scoring in double-figures, and Brown was the one who led the way.
He didn’t put up the kind of numbers that has him sixth in the league’s scoring average rankings, but his efforts were still more than enough to get the job done.
Brown finished the game shooting 5-for-14, totaling up 17 points, and five rebounds.
The big picture
Even though they started the season in lackluster fashion, the Celtics can keep their upswing going, especially after the kind of performances they’ve had over the last two games.
They’ve now held both the Magic and the Heat to under 80 total points in consecutive games.
With their kind of defensive efforts, they should have no problem going head-to-head with more of the league’s best as the season continues on.
Speaking of, the Celtics head to Dallas to play the Mavericks on Saturday, while the Heat hope to rebound back at home against the Jazz.
Cover photo: IMAGO/Agencia EFE