Heat's Defensive Struggles Show as Celtics Win Steadily, 104-111

Early signs of Heat defensive breakdowns start to show as Miami drops their first two games.

The Miami Heat lost to the Boston Celtics in an Eastern Conference Finals rematch as they fail to slow down Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. The Heat saw Bam Adebayo and Kyle Lowry bounce back from a poor offensive game against the Bulls, as Adebayo contributed with 19 PTs on an efficient 8-11 from the field and Lowry with 17 PTs with a solid 3-7 from the three. All around, the starting five fared well with Butler and Herro also scoring double figures, but the Heat are struggling defensively. Boston ran many screens that the Heat did not have an answer for, whether it was covering the pop or the roll. Size is also an ongoing issue for the Heat. When Adebayo was benched briefly for foul trouble, the Celtics were able to exploit the slower Dewayne Dedmon and were able to put a stop to a then-run from the Heat. Erik Spoelstra has yet to play the tall and talented rookie Nikola Jovic and will be interesting to see if Spoelstra will integrate him sooner or later, especially with big-man Omer Yurtseven out with an injury.

So far, it has been an unusual and rare slow start for Spoelstra and the Heat as they take on the Toronto Raptors on Saturday, Oct. 22.

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