In its first match at Kayesa Center since the Eastern Conference Finals, Boston is a road favorite over Miami.
As part of NBA Rivals Week, the Miami Heat lost their fourth straight game on Wednesday night. They will have a short turnaround before hosting the Boston Celtics on Thursday.
The past two seasons, Boston and Miami have faced off in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Heat won in 2023, and the Celtics won in 2022 after both series went to seven games. These clubs have played frequently in recent years, and Boston prevailed 119-111 in October of last year in their first of three regular-season games.The Celtics have a clean injury report for Thursday’s game in South Florida, which will cap off their three-game road trip. The Heat will conclude their brief two-game homestand without Jaime Jacquez Jr. (groin) and Kevin Love (illness), both of whom are questionable. The Memphis Grizzlies defeated Jacquez 105-96 on Wednesday, and Love left the game early.
Terry Rozier started his NBA career with the Celtics and made his debut with the Heat on Wednesday night.
After defeating the Dallas Mavericks 119-110 on Monday, Boston has had two full days off. With 39 points, Jayson Tatum led all scorers, while Jaylen Brown chipped in with 34 to help the C’s overcome a 33-point triple-double from Luka Dončić. Boston won its third straight game away from TD Garden to increase its road record to 14–9.
Only the Celtics have a higher offensive and defensive rating than any other team in the league. And while their offensive hasn’t performed as well as it could have in the new year, their defense is still among the best. Not a single club in the NBA attempts (42.8) or makes (16.2) as many threes as Boston, which also happens to be one of the best teams in the arc defense.
One area of weakness that reared its head in the opening game against Miami was the Celtics’ lack of scoring off the bench. In that eight-point victory, all of Boston’s starters scored at least 17 points, but head coach Joe Mazzulla’s second unit managed just eight points. With the recent arrival of Terry Rozier, who played his first four years of basketball with the Celtics, Erik Spoelstra can now count on a little bit more output coming off his bench.
In Rozier’s debut, Miami fell at home on Wednesday against a Memphis squad lacking key players. The Heat did not play with a full roster either, but they failed to reach 100 points for the sixth time in their previous ten games, a sign of their terrible offense. Although the team only shot 32% from beyond the arc and 40% from the field overall, Tyler Herro led the team with 18 points, followed by Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, and Caleb Martin with 15 each.
Miami is strong on defense. With a defensive rating in the top 10, Spoelstra’s team is currently ranked fifth in January. The Heat have lost three straight games in which they have kept their opponent’s point total under 110, indicating a problem with the offense.
Boston’s defense should be able to contain Miami’s attack. The Heat, and Butler in particular, show up for games like this one, but it’s also a back-to-back. Despite facing weaker opposition than the Celtics, who own the best record in the NBA, Miami has lost three of its five back-to-back games this season without finishing in the triple digits.
