Celtics-Heat: Boston Shows Miami That Substance Still Rules in the East

The good thing about the Miami Heat's loss to the Boston Celtics on Thursday night is they only have two more games left against the Celtics. The bad thing is, Miami has not shown one single thing in either of their two losses that would indicate they are capable of beating the Celtics.

For the second time in the space of three weeks Boston dispatched of Miami, and if not for a late 4th quarter Heat scoring flurry, the game would not look as close as the final 112-107 score would suggest.

Boston jumped out to a 15-4 advantage and never looked back, and the Heat are once again forced to face questions in the wake of a 5-4 start to their season, which looks a lot more mediocre than most observers were expecting.

There's plenty of blame to go around for Thursday night's loss, and surprisingly little of it can be placed on the Heat's beleagured group of big men.

Miami out-rebounded the Celtics 37-35, and they only scored 8 less points in the paint, but on a night where the Heat's big men finally stepped up, it was the strength of Miami's team that eventually failed them.

Miami has been the NBA's top defensive team, and the duo of Dwyane Wade and LeBron James are generally regarded as the league's stingiest perimeter tandem, but against the Celtics it was hard to tell.

Boston shot 54 percent from the field, dominated in transition with 19 fast break points, and the Celtics capitalized on 14 Miami turnovers by converting them into 19 more points.

In contrast the up-tempo Heat only managed 10 points in transition, and were destroyed at the point of attack as Celtics' point guard Rajon Rondo once again shredded Miami's defense with his constant penetration.

Point guard defense has become a glaring problem for the Heat, but more surprising was the Miami's poor transition defense, which was constantly pointed out by TNT's national commentators.

Many people assumed that a fast-paced tempo would play into the Heat's hands, but Boston showed no fear of running with Miami, and by the time the final horn sounded it was difficult to tell who the younger team actually was.

A 5-4 record this early in the season is certainly no reason to panic, because as Wade said after the game, Miami is probably the best 5-4 team in the NBA.

But, I'm not sure Miami President Pat Riley feels the same way, as he was frequently pictured feverishly jotting down notes from the game.

Most people took that as a sign that time has just about run out on Heat coach Eric Spolestra, but should he be fired for circumstances that are completely out of his control?

It wasn't Spolestra's fault that Miami rarely failed to defend in transition, and it wasn't his fault that the Heat's point guards spent most of the evening watching Rondo's backside as he dribbled around them.

Not to mention Miami's outside shooters couldn't hit water if they fell out of a boat.

The Heat shot a dismal 3-16 from three point range, which is not going to get it done considering a large part of their offense is based on penetrating the lane, and kicking the ball out to open shooters.

James did nearly record a triple-double with 35 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists, but most of his points were of the one-on-one variety, and if the Celtics force you into that type of game, then you've already lost.

Wade suffered through another horrible performance going 2-12 from the field and finishing with 8 points, which brings me to another interesting point about this game.

Many of the questions in the aftermath of Miami's loss dealt more with what was wrong with the Heat, as opposed to how much better the Celtics are at this early stage in the season.

Some people assumed that the talent of Wade, James, and Chris Bosh would overwhelm the Celtics, but Boston proved that the sum of their team is greater than the Heat's talent, at least right now.

Before the game Wade said the Celtics would see a much-improved version of the Heat, rather than the one Boston defeated 88-80 on opening night.

Apparently someone forgot to mention to Wade that there was a good chance Miami would see a better version of the Celtics as well.