The Miami Heat won this Wednesday at home to the Boston Celtics 98-106 and they consolidated their leadership in the East against fearsome contenders like their rivals tonight or the Milwaukee Bucks.
In a closely contested game with no major differences for either team, the Heat’s unexpected hero was Max Strus, superb on defense in the final minutes. Strus blocked Jaylen Brown with 1.48 to go and forced an offensive foul on Jayson Tatum with just 33 seconds left. Along with the effort behind Strus, the Heat benefited from a greater success in the outcome of the game thanks to the inspiration of Kyle Lowry (23 points and 8 assists) and Jimmy Butler (24 points). Bam Adebayo also stood out with some fundamental free throws in the final seconds to finish off a very complete performance (17 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists).
For the Celtics, Jaylen Brown was the best with 28 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists while Jayson Tatum had 23 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. The Dominican Al Horford played 34 minutes in which he had 6 points, 15 rebounds and 4 assists.
The Heat thus added their second victory in a row after four consecutive losses that raised doubts in Miami due to friction and problems between the players and the coaching staff. Erik Spoelstra’s men are leaders in the East (49-28) ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks (47-28), the Philadelphia 76ers (46-29) and the Boston Celtics (47-30), who have lost two games in a row .