For the first time since January 21, the Boston Celtics have lost two games in a row. They fell to the Miami Heat at home on Wednesday night, 106-98. The loss punted the Celtics back into fourth place, as they now sit two full games out of first.
The night was dominated by technical fouls, complaints to the refs, and hard-nosed basketball. It’s hard to expect anything less when the Heat come to town.
Loss to Miami as a learning opportunity
With how much of a roll the Celtics had been on, the loss can also be seen as a good thing, a learning opportunity for the team as they get prepared for a playoff run. That’s how Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, and Ime Udoka framed it after the game.
“Just playing a good team,” said Tatum, “Another team that’s at the top of the East. Good, close game. Obviously, again, we would love to win, but it’s something we can learn from moving forward.”
But as much of a learning opportunity as the game was, Tatum made it clear that it was still a loss. “No moral victories. We lost,” Tatum stated. “You either win or you lose. But you always can learn from something. And, you know, the season was not decided today. We still got games to play. Playoffs. So, we’ll be better.”
Horford echoed Tatum’s sentiments. He discussed how, while the loss still hurts, it can be used to help prepare the C’s for the postseason. Miami is the top team in the East, and being in games like this will only help them improve.
“It’s good for our team to be in this position,” said Horford after the game. “And obviously, they’re a playoff team. This is just a great time for us to continue to find ways to get better. And we always obviously want to win. But I just think it’s good… For us, the key is going to be looking at this game tomorrow, seeing how we can improve and get better, and move on.”
And as Udoka gets ready for his first NBA playoffs as a head coach, he found the positives in the loss as well. He sees it as a…
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