BOSTON -- With less than three minutes left in another road stinker, a camera inside TD Garden panned to Heat coach Erik Spoelstra and projected an image of searing pain and helpless resignation onto the video board.
There was Spoelstra: head lowered, eyes closed and left hand slowly massaging the bridge of his nose. It was a picture of unutterable frustration.
In a game that seemed over from the opening burst of offensive brilliance from Celtics guard Rajon Rondo, the Heat lost to Boston 91-72 on Sunday, falling to 10-7 since the All-Star break. While Miami (37-14) has been outstanding at home all season, the team's level of inconsistency in road games is growing with just 15 games remaining in the regular season. The Heat is 1-7 on the road since the All-Star break against teams in contention to make the playoffs.
'unacceptable'
"It's not about what we say right now," Spoelstra said. "It's not about any kind of meeting, any kind of talk. It's not about a response to the media. This game was unacceptable."
The Heat's 72 points were a season low. Rondo, now the Celtics' marquee player in the twilight of Boston's Big 3 Era, had a triple-double with more than eight minutes left in the game. He finished with 16 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds to lead a rejuvenated team that defeated the Heat despite shooting guard Ray Allen missing the game with a sore right ankle.
"We will fix it together, collectively," Spoelstra said. "We're not happy about it, we have not been able to come up with an answer on the road, particularly in the third quarter. We fell prey to that again [Sunday].
"We'll figure it out. Somehow, somehow, this group together; us in that locker room, we will figure it out."
The Heat shot 34.8 percent with starters Mario Chalmers and Chris Bosh combining to score six points on 3-of-16 shooting. The Heat was out-rebounded 49-47 despite pulling down 10 more offensive boards than the Celtics (30-22) and in a stunning testament to the team's poor day, LeBron James finished without an assist for just the second time in his career.
The Heat had 15 assists as a team, or just one more than Rondo.
"This was just a good ol' fashion you-know-what," said James, who led the Heat with 23 points on 11-of-20 shooting to go along with four rebounds. "They beat us in all facets of the game and kept us under all averages and completely dominated us tonight."
Opportunity lost
With the Bulls losing to Oklahoma City on Sunday afternoon, the Heat had a rare opportunity to gain ground on the Eastern Conference's top team. Instead, the Heat still trails Chicago by 3 ½ games in the standings for the East's top playoff seed. With so few games remaining, Miami seems locked into second place in the conference.
That detail might seem insignificant now, compared to the Heat's current struggles, but home-court advantage in the playoffs is no small thing the way Miami has played on the road since the beginning of March.
"It's definitely a string of issues on the road, and we all know that," James said. "We've got to better and more mentally tough. We'll figure it out."
Dwyane Wade finished with 15 points but managed only four in an embarrassing second half for the Heat. Boston outscored Miami 31-12 in the third quarter and led 80-56 to begin the final period. A comeback never materialized with the Heat's starters combining for just three points (all from James) in the fourth quarter.
Frustration boils
While the Heat was even-keeled during post-game news conferences, the team wasn't without discord during the game. James appeared upset with the defensive effort of Chalmers, voicing his frustration several times at critical points in the first half and third quarter.
"I was just trying to communicate with [Chalmers] at certain points on how to important it is to guard Rondo," James said. "But we'll figure out.
"You can't just say if it was a playoff game. I find myself always wanting to guard whoever has it going, I just take that challenge no matter what. When we go to our big lineup that puts me on Rondo automatically. There's times where I ask for him as well."
The Heat trailed 49-44 at halftime but surrendered a 17-0 run midway through the third quarter. Boston shot 60.9 percent from the field in the pivotal period compared with 26.3 percent (5 of 19) for the Heat.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
No comments:
Post a Comment