The Miami Heat suffered a tough 103-91 loss to the Boston Celtics on Friday night, with the NBA game slipping away in the final quarter. Despite a competitive battle for most of the night, Miami faltered late as the Celtics—despite missing Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis—dominated down the stretch. Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo addressed the team’s recurring fourth-quarter struggles, admitting they have yet to find a solution.
For three quarters, the Heat stayed within striking distance, but their offensive collapse in the final 12 minutes sealed their fate. Miami managed just 14 points in the fourth, while Boston put up 25. When asked about the common thread in their late-game struggles, Herro kept his answer blunt: “We just can’t score. Gotta score the ball,” Herro said.
The numbers back up Herro’s frustration. Miami shot just 5-of-20 from the field and 2-of-9 from three-point range in the final quarter. However, Adebayo defended the team’s shot selection, emphasizing that they simply weren’t falling.
“I feel like we’re getting the shots we wanted, but they’re not going in,” Adebayo said. “When you get good looks, you gotta live with that. At the end of the day, it is what it is. We just gotta figure out how we can, while we’re missing, also get stops.”
Herro on offensive struggles
After the game, Herro expanded on Miami’s offensive woes, acknowledging that while the team has a solid system in place, they were up against an elite defense.
“Their defense is good,” Herro said. “In the fourth quarter, they were able to take us out of what we were trying to get to. We just have to stay with it and find solutions to score late in games.”
Andrew Wiggins led the Heat with 23 points, while Herro contributed 19 points, six assists, and five rebounds. Adebayo, despite his recent offensive resurgence, struggled to make an impact, finishing with just nine points.
Adebayo points to defensive issues
While Herro focused on the offense, Adebayo shifted the blame to the other end of the floor, emphasizing Miami’s inability to string together stops.
“I think it’s the defensive end, honestly,” Adebayo said. “One night, we can’t get a stop one-on-one. The next night, it’s second-chance points. Then it’s offensive rebounding. When we learn to check all three of those boxes every game, we’ll figure it out.”
With this loss, the Heat have now dropped six straight games, marking their longest losing streak of the season. Their last five defeats have come at home, making this the toughest stretch of their campaign. As the NBA playoff race tightens, Miami faces an uphill battle to secure a postseason spot, whether through direct qualification or the play-in tournament.