The Miami HEAT fell to the Boston Celtics 105-95 Sunday night at AmericanAirlines Arena. Goran Dragic led the way for the HEAT with 31 points.
1. Dragic Does All He Can
After Miami fell behind by double-digits in the first half, Dragic led a furious rally with 20 points and four assists after halftime. In particular, the Dragon really started to find the range, as he shot 5-of-6 from beyond the arc on the evening.
That said, Dragic also had some nifty moves to the rack earlier in the game. For a perfect example of that, let's take a look at a play about midway through the first quarter.
With 5:55 to go in the first, Dragic attacked the basket against Jae Crowder, hit him with a spin move near the right block and finished the tough finger-roll.
In addition to his 31 points on 12-of-21 shooting, the Slovenian also tallied seven assists and five rebounds.
2. Whiteside Feasts
With the smaller Amir Johnson primarily defending Whiteside early on, the big fella out of Marshall had himself a quick start to the game. In fact, Whiteside scored six of the HEAT's first 10 points and had a lot of success in the post.
Naturally, one of his best plays of the evening came on a thunderous alley-oop. With 57 seconds left in the first half, Justise Winslow quickly brought the ball up court after grabbing the defensive rebound. Whiteside ran the floor, set a screen for the forward and rolled to the basket. From there, Winslow threw up a perfectly placed lob, which the 7-footer slammed home with authority.
As the game progressed, Whiteside continued to absorb contact down low and alter shots on the other end. In all, Whiteside scored 23 points, grabbed 17 boards and blocked three shots.
3. Winslow Creates For His Teammates
Throughout the night, Winslow set up his teammates very well with some good looks. Unfortunately, Miami didn't convert as often off those opportunities. Still, the 20-year-old tallied four assists and continued to show his development as a playmaker.
Winslow's versatility was on full display once again, as he played both the three and the four on Sunday. Although he defended Crowder down the stretch, he did a great job of helping Dragic on this fantastic block from behind on Marcus Smart.
After that play, Isaiah Thomas was ejected after elbowing Winslow in the face. The HEAT went on an 8-0 run from there, but the Celtics responded. Winslow finished with eight points and four rebounds to go along with his four assists.
Game Note:
-Wayne Ellington (strained right hamstring) and Dion Waiters (pectineus tear) sat out.
Looking Ahead:
-Next up for the HEAT are the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night at 7:30 PM. Tickets for that game can be found here.
