The Miami HEAT fell to the Boston Celtics 112-108 Sunday night at TD Garden. Tyler Johnson led the way for the HEAT with 24 points.
1. Johnson & Johnson Do It All
As usual, Tyler Johnson and James Johnson put their imprint on the game from the very moment they stepped onto the floor. In fact, T. Johnson led Miami with 12 points at halftime thanks to a mix of jumpers and nifty shots in the paint. J. Johnson, meanwhile, was a menace on the defensive end and also dished out five assists in the first half.
While that was important, the duo wasn’t even close to being done though, as it combined for 24 points (12 apiece) in the fourth thanks to some great rim attacks. Let’s take a look at a pair of plays from the Brothers Johnson during their impressive flurry.
With 7:35 left in the fourth, T. Johnson received the ball from J. Johnson and took Avery Bradley off the dribble. Once the guard approached the paint, he absorbed contact from Jaylen Brown and hit the circus reverse layup.
A little later, J. Johnson barreled to the rim past Jae Crowder and threw down a massive flush with Al Horford in the vicinity.
The forward finished with 20 points, six assists, five boards, two blocks and a steal on the night. T. Johnson, on the other hand, tallied four rebounds, three steals and two assists to go along with his 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting.
2. Whiteside Shows Toughness Once Again
Although Hassan Whiteside had a pretty solid start to the game, his play on both ends in the third quarter was important in keeping the HEAT afloat. In the period, the big fella tallied eight points, six rebounds, one steal and one block. Not to mention, Whiteside hit two clutch free throws later in the contest to cut the deficit to 110-108 with 11.5 seconds left in the fourth.
In all, the 27-year-old scored 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting, grabbed 15 rebounds (nine offensive) and dished out two assists in addition to his aforementioned steal and block.
3. Reed Strong Off The Bench
While Whiteside played well, Willie Reed made sure to provide a spark off the bench when the Marshall product was resting. To no one’s surprise, Reed was active in his 18 minutes of action. The second-year center tallied seven points, six boards and a team-high plus-11 rating.
Other Takeaways:
-Josh Richardson competed hard against Isaiah Thomas throughout the contest and came away with this nice steal and slam in the first quarter.
Richardson finished with nine points, five assists, two steals and two blocks.
Game Note:
-Dion Waiters (sprained left ankle), Justise Winslow (right shoulder surgery) and Josh McRoberts (left foot stress fracture) sat out.
Looking Ahead:
-The HEAT will continue their road trip and head to Detroit for an important matchup on Tuesday at 7:30 PM. Miami’s next home game will be on Friday against the Knicks at 8:00 PM. Tickets for that game can be found here.