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Celtics 98 - HEAT 104 Game Recap

The Miami HEAT defeated the Boston Celtics 104-98 Wednesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena and snapped Boston's 16-game winning streak. Goran Dragić led the way for the HEAT with 27 points.

1. Waiters Comes Through In The Clutch Again

Although Dion Waiters got hot in the third quarter and scored 10 points off some tough drives, you know the best was yet to come from Philly Cheese.

With the game hanging in the balance and Boston mounting a comeback, Waiters scored eight points in the final three minutes to keep Miami ahead. Although the 25-year-old hit some tough threes during the flurry…

…this huge dunk over Kyrie Irving essentially put the game out of reach:

In all, Waiters tallied 26 points on 11-of-24 shooting, two rebounds and a team-high six assists.

2. Great First Half For Dragić

With Wednesday being a big game with the streaking Celtics in town, what else would you expect from Dragić other than excellence?

That’s exactly what we saw from the Slovenian in the first half, as he tallied 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting before halftime. Perhaps his most impressive bucket of the night came late in the second quarter over a very tough defender in Marcus Smart:

Notice how Hassan Whiteside got Dragić a little bit of space to get open thanks to a hard screen on the right wing.

As the game progressed, the Slovenian continued to compete hard on both ends and got into the paint. In addition to his team-high 27 points on 8-of-17 shooting, Dragić also had five rebounds and four assists.

3. K.O. Saves His Best For Last

Remember how well Kelly Olynyk played in the last meeting against his former team? Well, the 7-footer did it again.

Olynyk scored all six of his points in the fourth quarter, including this fantastic fake handoff and jam:

In addition to his six points on 3-of-5 shooting, Olynyk also totaled six boards, two assists, one steal, one block and a team-high plus-17 rating on the night.

Other Takeaways:

-Tyler Johnson mixed up his offensive approach and looked great from the very beginning against the Celtics. On the flip side of the ball, the 25-year-old showed quick feet and competed hard against Irving. Johnson finished with 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting and seven rebounds.

-While Justise Winslow did a lot of damage in the paint offensively and showed nice touch around the rim, his biggest contribution came on the defensive end against Al Horford and Irving. Thanks in part to Winslow’s stout defense, Horford shot just 3-of-10 from the field.

When it was all said and done, Winslow scored eight points on 4-of-6 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds.

Game Note:

-Okaro White (left foot surgery), Rodney McGruder (left tibia surgery), A.J. Hammons (Sioux Falls assignment) and Matt Williams Jr. (Sioux Falls assignment) were inactive.

Looking Ahead:

-The HEAT will now head out on a four-game road trip starting on Friday against the Timberwolves at 8:00 PM. Miami’s next home game will be on Friday, Dec. 1 versus the Hornets at 8:00 PM. Tickets for that game at AmericanAirlines Arena can be found here.