BOSTON — The Heat are back.
For now.
Miami picked up a win against the Celtics on Wednesday. It was the Heat’s second win in a row following a four-game losing streak, one highlighted (lowlighted?) by a blowup on the bench between Erik Spoelstra and Jimmy Butler that would have made the WWE proud.
The win kept Miami in the top spot in the Eastern Conference.
And left those wondering about their place among the elite as confused as ever.
There was a lot to like about the Heat on Wednesday. Kyle Lowry was excellent. Lowry scored 23 points. He handed out eight assists. He connected on a season-high six three-pointers. He finished the game a plus-13. He seized control in the fourth quarter when Miami badly needed it.
He reminded Erik Spoelstra why the Heat lavished a $30 million per season contract on him last summer.
“There were many years that I just really did not like Kyle Lowry,” said Spoelstra, “because he was such a thorn in our side.”
The defense played well. “We happened to guard tonight,” said Jimmy Butler. The same group that surrendered at least 110 points during Miami’s four-game losing streak limited Boston to 98. In the fourth quarter, the Heat outscored the Celtics 27–15. They forced turnovers—18 of them. They held Boston to 29% from beyond the three-point line.
The Heat entered the game with a top-six defense.
For the first time in weeks, they played like one.
Offensively, they were sharp. Credit Lowry. Point guard has never been a position of weakness in Miami. Goran Dragić was enough to help the Heat advance to the Finals in 2020. “I miss Goran like hell,” Butler said. But Lowry brings a different dimension. He brings 16 years of experience. He brings a championship. He’s a defensive bulldog with all the toughness that goes with it. Asked about Miami’s offensive success on Wednesday, Butler pointed to the guy next to him.
“We’ve gotten a lot better at knowing where the ball has to go,” Butler said. “Putting everyone in the positions to be successful. It starts with [Lowry]. Spo trusts him with the ball. [He] points people to get to their spot, set a good screen, come off, make a shot, make a pocket pass, hit the guy on the baseline. Our offense really looks good because there is no confusion on where the ball has to go.”
Added Lowry, “I’m shooting more. Just getting ready to prepare for the moments that I know are going to be big for us. Just playing. All season I’ve been passing first. Lately I’ve been looking for my shot a little bit more. But the job is easy if you know what you are doing.”
The Heat are a tough team to get a read on. They have one of the NBA’s best defensive players in Bam Adebayo. They have Tyler Herro, likely this season’s top sixth man. They have a backcourt in Lowry and Butler steeped in playoff experience. But in the final weeks of the season they have looked shaky. They have looked dysfunctional. They have looked like a team that, with the wrong matchup (hi, Brooklyn) could get beat in the first round.
But then you think about what they could be. Miami, like many teams, has dealt with some challenging injuries. To Adebayo. To Butler. To Markieff Morris. Lowry has missed 13 games due to personal reasons. And the Heat have kept winning. They discovered something in Max Strus, who supplanted Duncan Robinson in the starting lineup and has scored in double figures in three of the last four games. The Spoelstra-Butler dustup looked bad but maybe they are the kind of team that can shake something like that off.
“Those experiences,” Spoelstra said, “Make you stronger.”
Besides—who is the favorite in the Eastern Conference? Boston, which has spent the last few weeks absolutely bludgeoning teams, has looked like one. But the injury to Robert Williams, who will be out at least until the second round of the playoffs, could be crippling. The Sixers are still learning how to play together. The Bucks are rolling but Miami has split the season series with Milwaukee, with an early March loss—played without Lowry—decided by a single point.
“We’ve had our share of challenges down the stretch,” said Spoelstra. “But what I Iove about this group is that we come in the next day, really try to work at it and get better.”
Miami will certainly enter the playoffs with plenty of questions.
Against Boston, they showed they also have enough answers.
