Heat Lose Second Straight to Boston

On a night they looked forward to since the day after opening night of the season, the Heat fell short against Boston yet again, this time losing 112-107.  The Heat let the Celtics get off to a good start, and were losing by as many as twenty points in the third quarter before trying to make a late-game comeback that proved to be too little, too late.

LeBron James came one assist shy of his second-straight triple double, as he finished with 35 points, 10 rebounds, and 9 assists.  Udonis Haslem stepped up in the wake of Dwyane Wade’s bad offensive game and had a double-double as well, with 21 points - on 9 for 10 shooting - and 10 rebounds.  Chris Bosh added 15 points and 7 rebounds, and Eddie House came off the bench to add 13 points for the Heat.  Wade had a bad game, similar to the last time these two teams faced off, and finished with only 8 points on 2 for 12 shooting, including 0 for 5 from three point range.  

Yet even more hurtful to the Heat was what happened on the other side of the floor.  The defense struggled on all accounts – in transition, in the half-court set, and against specific key players.  Issues guarding a good point guard continued for the Heat, as they had trouble guarding Rajon Rondo again.  After allowing Rondo to have 17 assists in their first matchup, he had 16 last night.  Aside from that, the Heat could not stick with Ray Allen in transition or in the half court set.  They allowed Allen to get in a rhythm, and he poured in 35 points on 13 for 23 shooting, including 7 for 9 shooting from three point range.  

"He is always on the move and he shoots the ball very well," Wade said. "I watch a lot of games and I don't really see him shoot as well against other teams as he does against us. He shot it very well tonight and got them off to a great start."

The Heat have been having trouble with the Celtics for the past couple years, and they have now lost 13 out of the last 14 regulation season matchups.  Even with the new additions to the team this year, they are still having issues matching up with the Celtics.  This could lead to a big problem come playoff time if the Heat don’t figure it out the next two times they play them this season.  

Yet the Heat are taking everything - including this two game losing streak - in stride, knowing that it is early in the season and realizing that they still have a lot of work to do.   

"Nov. 11, right now, we're not there," Spoelstra said. "We did not play well tonight. But, again, we have a different timeline and this is going to be a process. And it won't always been an easy one.

"Of course, you don't think you'll be 5-4 at this time, but we are 5-4," Wade said. "You can't run from your record. I think we're better than 5-4. We're the best 5-4 team in the league, how about that? Everyone says adversity hits, you just don't expect it to hit early."

"You need to face adversity," Spoelstra said. "You need to stumble, you need to feel this pain to be able to respond. This is what makes you stronger." 

Let’s see if the Heat respond when they play the Raptors on Saturday.