Three Studs, Three Duds As Celtics Pick Apart New-Look Heat In Win

The Boston Celtics hadn’t seen the Miami Heat since their Jimmy Butler saga reached an end at the NBA trade deadline.

But to finish off their two-game road trip at Kaseya Center on Monday night, the Celtics got their official first look at the new-look Miami squad. Deadline additions Andrew Wiggins and Kyle Anderson were fully suited up and ready to take the floor while Boston entered the matchup without starters Jaylen Brown and Jrue Holiday.

The Celtics left Miami winners in six of their last seven games and with an improved 38-16 record before returning home to TD Garden.

Here are three studs and three duds from Boston’s 103-85 victory:

STUDS
Jayson Tatum’s third-quarter takeover
The performance, as a whole, was spectacular but Tatum’s third quarter can’t go without being highlighted.

Tatum turned the intensity up following halftime, scoring 20 points in the third quarter. The six-time All-Star hunted mismatches, knocked down three 3-pointers and became a living, walking nightmare for Miami’s defense. There was nothing the Heat could do to cool Tatum off and the 26-year-old finished the night with a game-high 33 points, eight rebounds and two assists when the dust settled.

Derrick White
Without Holiday — White’s running mate — the 30-year-old held down the fort just fine.

White scored 13 points, grabbed four rebounds and logged a game-high seven assists, getting involved everywhere on both ends of the floor. The veteran guard overcame an inefficient 3-of-10 shooting from the field by hitting two 3-pointers and going a perfect 5-for-5 from the free-throw line to finish with a plus-13 rating.

Al Horford
The Celtics received big minutes from their veteran big man, and Horford even notched a new career milestone in the process.

Horford tied C’s legend Paul Pierce’s record by logging his 79th career game against the Heat. Boston’s 38-year-old center tallied his third double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Horford shot 6-of-11 from the field, connected on four 3-point attempts and blocked two Miami shots on the defensive end.

DUDS
Terry Rozier
There was nothing scary besides Rozier’s inefficiency.

The ex-Celtics guard played 25 minutes off Miami’s bench and didn’t do much. Rozier scored nine points on 4-of-12 shooting from the field and grabbed three rebounds, unable to muster up any momentum to guide a shift to get the team competitive again.

Andrew Wiggins
The former No. 1 overall pick brought his offensive struggles from Golden State to South Beach as Wiggins provided the Heat with minimal contribution.

Wiggins shot 3-of-12 from the floor, scored 11 points and committed two turnovers to log a minus-22 rating — the worst of any starting player from either team. Miami gave Wiggins 30 starting minutes to showcase some form of leadership with Tyler Herro sidelined, however, that was wishful thinking and Tinker Bell wasn’t in the building.

Payton Pritchard
Usually, the Celtics can rely on Pritchard off the bench, and rarely does the 27-year-old guard not deliver.

This, however, was one of those rare instances and Miami’s offensively-challenged unit wasn’t capable of capitalizing on the opportunity. Pritchard scored five points in 36 minutes, shooting 2-for-9 from the field and just 1-of-8 from three. Yet, Boston’s undersized guard played taller than his stature by grabbing 10 rebounds, tying Horford for the team lead.