Heat Look To Avenge Celtics Loss Tuesday
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The Miami Heat return to the court Tuesday night looking to avenge a humiliating loss from a little more than a week ago at the hands of the Boston Celtics.
This time, the Heat will be inside the very friendly confines of the AmericanAirlines Arena for the Celtics game. Boston thumped Miami 91-72 on April 1 in a game that wasn't as close as the final score made it appear.
Miami has been almost unbeatable at home this season, losing only three games. For the Heat, the team is sitting in second place in the Eastern Conference, just two games behind the first place Chicago Bulls.
The Heat can move within a game of the Bulls with a victory and a Chicago loss. Miami had a 17-game home winning streak end with Friday night's 97-82 loss to Memphis before beating Detroit 98-75 at AmericanAirlines Arena on Sunday.
Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said Tuesday that he expects to have the entire team available to him, which means Heat guard Dwyane Wade, who missed Sunday's victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Heat has only lost one game with Wade out of the lineup this season.
The Celtics rank near the top of the league with 89.3 points allowed per game but have been even better over the last nine contests, giving up an average of 81.7 on 37.9 percent shooting.
The Celtics have taken 15 of 18 regular-season matchups in this series but have dropped their last two visits to Miami. The Heat shot 56.0 percent - the highest mark surrendered by Boston in almost two years - during a 115-107 home win Dec. 27.
