The Miami HEAT fell to the Boston Celtics 107-99 Monday night at TD Garden. Dion Waiters and Derrick Jones Jr. each scored 18 points apiece to lead Miami.
1. Waiters Empties The Tank
Simply put, Dion Waiters was instant offense for the HEAT on Monday.
After coming through with an explosive first half in which he got to the basket with relative ease, Waiters continued to put pressure on Boston after the break.
And while he had a number of nice finishes at the rim throughout the contest, nothing touches this crazy spin and up-and-under move in transition early in the fourth:
(Also note the swat by Bam Adebayo that got it all started.)
In addition to his 18 points on 8-of-16 shooting, the 27-year-old Waiters also accumulated two boards, one assist and a team-high plus-21 rating.
2. Jones Jr. Records A Career High
Like in Miami’s prior matchup with the Celtics, Jones Jr. made a major impact off the bench thanks to his limitless energy and crazy length.
From the very moment he stepped onto the floor, the 21-year-old moved well off the ball, crashed the glass and showed quick hands on the defensive end as usual.
One of his better sequences of the night came in the second quarter when he defended Jayson Tatum well near the block, caused a turnover and then threw it down with contact on the other end:
Gotta love “Airplane Mode”.
Jones Jr. ended up with a team-high nine rebounds, one steal and one block to go along with his aforementioned career-high 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting.
3. Winslow Sticks With It
Although Justise Winslow didn’t score as much as he’s accustomed to, he still continued to fight hard in the fourth and absorbed a ton of contact on aggressive takes to the hoop.
In fact, he nailed all six of his free throws against the Celtics.
That wasn’t all though, as Winslow continued to set up his teammates well, with one of his better passes coming in the fourth to Adebayo.
When it was all said and done, Winslow amassed eight points, six assists and five boards.
Other Takeaways:
-Similar to Winslow, Adebayo fought hard and got to the charity stripe quite often. All told, the 21-year-old tallied 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field, 5-of-6 from the line, seven rebounds, a team-high two blocks, two assists and a steal.
Game Note:
-Goran Dragić (Right Knee Surgery), Yante Maten (Sioux Falls Assignment) and Duncan Robinson (Sioux Falls Assignment) were inactive.
Looking Ahead:
-The HEAT will finally head home to take on the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday at 7:30 PM. Tickets for that game can be found here.