After ripping off a nine-game win streak, the Boston Celtics faltered during their three-game road trip. More specifically, they came up short during their two-game stretch in Florida. First, they lost to the Orlando Magic, and after that, they lost to the Miami Heat.
Their second of the two losses was brutal. They held a 14-point lead over Miami in the third quarter but blew it in the final frame after the Heat’s zone defense slowed Boston’s offense down to a halt. After the game, Miami’s Twitter account posted a message about the loss, mocking the Celtics by imitating the Dallas Cowboys’ tweet after they lost to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL Playoffs.
“Celtics gave away the ball 17 times in the narrow loss to the HEAT, in a matchup the Celtics had a chance to win if they didn’t again generate self-inflicted wounds,” the Heat’s Twitter account tweeted.
The Cowboys’ tweet went viral after their loss to the 49ers. It was mocked by many, as rather than talking trash about the 49ers, they seemingly mocked their own quarterback, Dak Prescott.
“Dak Prescott gave away the ball twice in the narrow loss to the 49ers, in a matchup the Cowboys had a chance to win if they didn’t again generate self-inflicted wounds,” the Cowboyts Twitter account tweeted.
Miami’s impersonation of the Cowboys tweet was very well-received on Twitter, as fans found it hilarious. Except for Celtics fans, that is. They pointed out one of Boston’s major flaws – their 17 turnovers – as the reason for their defeat. As for the Heat, they only turned the ball over seven times.
Jayson Tatum led the Celtics in turnovers, giving the ball away seven times. After him, Grant Williams had four turnovers, Robert Williams had three, Payton Pritchard had two, and Blake Griffin had one.
Erik Spoelstra Sounds Off on Jayson Tatum
Tatum was left to fend for himself against the Heat, as Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Malcolm Brogdon, and Al Horford were all out. Miami failed to contain him in the first half, but in the fourth quarter, they held him to just three points on 1-of-4 shooting. After the game, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra admitted that he wasn’t exactly sure how they managed to slow down the Boston star.
“I don’t know,” Spoelstra told CLNS Media when asked about what worked differently when guarding Tatum later on in the game. “I think we didn’t really make the necessary efforts in the first half. Your scheme is not going to get anything done. It’s the efforts, the discipline, the multiple efforts that you have to make against a very good offensive team with three-point shooting and everything. Our close-outs are better in the second half. Putting bodies in front of him, and then, if he kicked it out, we were able to get to guys quicker than we were to start the game. Basically, every time he wanted to get off it quickly in the first half, it led to a wide-open shot. When we’re at our best, we’re not giving up one pass, one trigger wide-open shots. It was much stingier in that second half. And that’s the inspiration of H[aywood Highsmith], and Gabe [Vincent] was really moving in that zone. And Bam [Adebayo] was just terrific on the back side of it.”
Bam Adebayo Discusses Importance of Al Horford
With how many Celtics players were out against the Heat, the game was always going to be an uphill battle. After the game, Adebayo discussed how important Horford is to the Celtics.
“Yeah, I feel like Al Horford is is the vet of that team,” Adebayo said via the Jump View YouTube channel when asked whether or not Boston missed Horford in their January 24 matchup. “I feel like he’s their UD [Udonis Haslem], and you can tell that when he’s on the court. He’s directing guys in position, out of position. Getting guys in the huddle, talking to one another, getting them communicating, and having them in the right spots. So I feel like he’s a big key component for their success this year, but also their success from last year.”
