Heat (10-12) at Celtics (18-4) Game #23 12/2/22

[86MaxwellSmart]

Refs took Tatum out of this game early with 3 CHEAP Foul calls.

Play of the game was when we were up 13 and threatening to go up 15---Brown with the LAZY pass that gets picked off by Butler....I knew we would lose right then.

[CelticSooner]

We really need time lord back against these talented bigs. Bam was really the difference maker

Yeah Miami whooped them on the glass. Need a big in there to make Bam think.

[keevsnick]

That Tatum walk in three is going to annoy me for a while. Both because at some point you have to realize you just don't have it tonight, but also because it was wide open and he should have made it. A contradictory feeling I know.

On the one hand the c's turned the ball over a million times, gave up a million offensive rebounds and Tatum had his worst game of the year and they almost won. Those three things wont happen together every night. On the other hand I hate losing to the heat.

[scaryjerry]

If the heat played as well against the rest of the league as they do the Celtics they’d have a much better record.

[blink]

Refs took Tatum out of this game early with 3 CHEAP Foul calls.

Play of the game was when we were up 13 and threatening to go up 15---Brown with the LAZY pass that gets picked off by Butler....I knew we would lose right then.

Tatum took himself out of the game in the 2nd half by sucking.  He is an MVP level player, we need more than that from him tonight.

[86MaxwellSmart]

Crappy Refs tonight. The worst was that no call on Herro, when he pushed over White and then hit a 3 pointer while White was laying on the ground waiting for the call he never got...ridiculous.

[JSD]

The refs were terrible until the 4th and overtime. They did their damage early and then slowly stepped away, all but eliminating that narrative

[SparzWizard]

That Tatum walk in three is going to annoy me for a while. Both because at some point you have to realize you just don't have it tonight, but also because it was wide open and he should have made it. A contradictory feeling I know.

On the one hand the c's turned the ball over a million times, gave up a million offensive rebounds and Tatum had his worst game of the year and they almost won. Those three things wont happen together every night. On the other hand I hate losing to the heat.

Sounds like back to the 2022 NBA Finals days again...20 turnovers tonight?!

[JSD]

Drunk Celtics fans in the back are always pretty entertaining

[86MaxwellSmart]

This was last year all over again...All that ball movement of this year STOPPED and they walked the ball up the court, letting Heat D set up.

[slamtheking]

Drunk Celtics fans in the back are always pretty entertaining

I find them extremely annoying

[JSD]

Drunk Celtics fans in the back are always pretty entertaining

I find them extremely annoying

type of cringe you can't help but watch though

[ozgod]

I'm ok with us losing this game. We shot 46% overall and 33% from 3, we had close to as many turnovers as assists (20 vs 26), Tatum had a 'mare with 5-18 and 0-7 and the Heat had 4 players that scored over 20 points. And we still took it to OT. These losses should provide the team with a dose of humility and Joe will plenty of ammunition to emphasize to the players that they're not as good as they think they are or they need to be, and should also help Joe and Brad work out exactly what we need, if any, in terms of additions at the trade deadline. It's hard to do both when you're beating teams by 20-30 points all the time.

Is it a matter of needing help? Or is it a matter of just playing better? If it's a structural issue with the team (which I don't think it is) how can that be addressed with the resources we have? If it's a matter of playing better, is it a matter of effort and sense of urgency, or is it a matter of taking care of the ball better? Or is it a technical issue with their schemes? Or is it literally as simple as, some players didn't play well and need to play better, to raise that level of consistency?

To me it looks like Miami came out better prepared and were going to blank JT out of the game and they weren't going to lose in our house twice. JB lifted his game but our bench, led by Brogdon who was a -20, wasn't able to provide the same lift they usually do, that their bench was able to for them.

So plenty of food for thought and a dose of humility. The positive is that we still took it to OT, but to be fair to the Heat they probably deserved to win this one and the team will learn from it.

[Phantom255x]

Tough loss but not worried. We were due for one. Still 18-5 and a lot of things yesterday didn't go our way yet we still took the game to OT

[Redz]

I wasn’t able to watch last night’s game, but one thing is clear about the Heat: they will always compete.  They’re not going to wither against the Celtics vaunted offense.  Losing a game here and there is gonna happen, especially against a well coached, talented team.  In a 7 game series, I still very much like the Celtics odds over the Heat.