Heat Fall to Celtics, Prove Little

Miami was out of this one almost as quickly as they were in it.

The Celtics had a laugher in their hands, the score at one point being 71 to 46. They were hitting threes so frequently, I half expected Doc to come off the bench and heave up a few.

Miami, on the other hand, was missing everything - so it seemed for a team shooting 48% at that point of the game. What really was going on was careless play and sloppy turnovers. Miami, however, really didn't seem to be doing too many bad things statistically, but an easy observation showed them to be out of sync and perhaps pressing a little too hard.

In the end, the Heat made a game of it - just like they did earlier in the year up in Boston. Yet, it matter little because just like that game, the result was still a loss. A maybe at best.

This Heat team continues to disappoint. Sure, it may not blow others away with big time acquisitions, but the names are there and the talent is there, too. Riley has to utilize better and there are signs of that happening. Still, the Heat seemed to underdeliver on a night that could have sent warning to the rest of the league that the Heat were rising once again.

At this point, it looks like they are struggling to stay alive.

There is plenty of time for the Heat to right the ship and get into the playoffs. In fact, there still is little doubt that this team is playoff caliber. It can be championship caliber IF Wade can return to his old, MVP self (lately he is looking fatigued and sloppy, part of the comeback panacea) and Shaq can continue to play like his old self and not just old. Wade's presence on the offensive side of things helps.

So even though the Heat missed out on an opportunity to make a statement, they still have something to build on. The first loss, however, was positive in that it showed that Miami could play with a higher caliber team. This loss, however, is positive in that the expectations for Miami was to get a win against a high quality team. They just couldn't deliver tonight and that proves very little at this point.

24 turnovers, a season high by the way, didn't help prove much either other than the Heat's sloppiness hampered their chances.