Normally, it’s the Miami Heat playing with the fight of a caged animal in these situations.
Instead, the Heat lacked everything they are known for in Saturday’s loss to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Heat now trail 2-1 in the series because they played without toughness and a sense of urgency.
Center and team captain Bam Adebayo was the first to call out the poor performance.
“I don’t think we really brought that dog like we did in Game when it was set the tone from the jump,” Adebayo said. “We didn’t do that. Obviously, when you don’t have that dog mentality, you can get blown out by 20.”
The effort was especially disappointing because the Heat played so well in Game 2 when they tied the series at 1. They followed it with a thud in Game 3 in front of the home crowd, which was starting to believe they could defeat the top-seeded Celtics.
The odds are already enough against the Heat because they are playing without Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier, who are both out indefinitely with injuries. With both doubtful to return this series, the Heat need to play nearly perfect basketball to have any chance of an upset.
Saturday was the exact opposite of what has to happen for them to win.
“It’s going to be a physical series,” Adebayo said. “This is the Miami Heat versus Boston Celtics. It’s going to be a battle. It’s going to be a dogfight. If you don’t bring that dog, this is what happens.”
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