After the Miami Heat held on for a 130-124 victory over the Boston Celtics on Sunday, Bam Adebayo noted that there’s still a learning curve for the Heat when it comes to closing out victories.
The Heat watched a 23-point fourth-quarter lead drop to just six points with less than five minutes left, with Adebayo indicating that the Celtics’ furious rally never should have happened.
“It still shows that we’ve still got to learn how to complete games,” said Adebayo. “They shouldn’t close that gap within 10.”
The win was an important one in the playoff picture because it puts more distance between the Heat and Celtics and puts the Heat in a better position to avoid taking part in the play-in portion of this year’s postseason.
A lingering ankle injury kept Celtics star Jaylen Brown out of the game, which left a gaping hole in the team’s offense. However, given all the injury and COVID-related absences that the Heat have endured all season long, the team presumably had little concern about the Celtics’ lineup woes.
Sunday’s contest was the first of two consecutive games in Boston between the two teams, with a Tuesday victory likely ending any concerns about the Heat competing in the play-in contests.
