Heat Struggle Against Celtics, 88-80
The Miami Heat tried to muster a fourth quarter comeback against the Boston Celtics Tuesday night, but the Heat's performance in the second half couldn't overcome an abysmal first half.
The Big Three ended up being a Big One for most of the game as LeBron James poured in 31 points and appeared to be the only player capable of leading the Heat.
Heat superstar guard Dwyane Wade showed a lot of rust after missing all but three minutes of the pre-season. Wade came out firing and went 0-4 in the first ten minutes of the game. His fellow Big Three member LeBron James could only muster a 2-7 shooting performance in the Heat's horrific first quarter.
The Heat kept trying to get into the offensive side of the ball in the first half but couldn't. The team had almost as many turnovers (9) as they did field goals (11) in the first half. The Heat's horrendous first quarter was worse than the Heat played in any single game during the 2009-2010 season.
But the bigger problem for the Heat was that the Celtics exposed what many feared during the off-season spending spree on the Big Three.
The Celtics utilized point guard Rajon Rondo and a deep, young bench to overwhelm the Heat throughout most of the game. Rondo finished with only 4 points, but dished out 17 assists for the game.
The Celtics had four players in double figures by the end of the game and utilized their time together to put on a display of how a team really plays. Ray Allen led the Celtics with 20 points and Paul Pierce dropped in another 19 to pace the C's.
Perhaps more glaringly was that Celtics shot an astounding 50 percent from three-point land. But, the Heat did force 16 turnovers for the game.
Still, the Heat's offense mustered 37 percent shooting for the game and the Heat turned it over 17 times for the game. The Heat was outrebounded by 3 for the game, but on the defensive end, they were outdone by 6 for the game.
The Heat were expected to struggle with the Celtics because the Heat didn't have their full team together at any point in the preseason. It's the first of 81 more games and the team has plenty of time to gel.
A dedicated throng of Heat fans decided to come out and watch the Celtics game on the big screens of the AmericanAirlines Arena.
"I'm very hyped, very excited, I've been waiting the whole summer and I'm ready to go," Heat fan Ervin Melendez said. "Right now, I feel like a kid on Christmas."
Even infamous boxing promoter Don King stopped by the AAA to cheer on the Miami Heat.
"I'm with the masses and not the classes," he told CBS4's Natalia Zea. And he predicted a Heat win. "Win with a big W, we got Bosh, we got Wade and we got Lebron. And so It's gonna be a hey day and a hot heat day right here."
Unfortunately, King's prediction for the Heat came up short in the end.
The Heat travel to Philadelphia on Wednesday night to take on an improving 76ers team. Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra will then have Thursday off before Friday night's big home opener against the Orlando Magic at the AmericanAirlines Arena.
CBS4's Natalia Zea contributed to this report.
