Miami Heat guard Norman Powell (24) drives the ball as Boston Celtics forward Sam Hauser (30) and guard Derrick White (9) defend in the first half of their NBA game at Kaseya Center on Jan. 15, 2026, in Miami. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 119-114 loss to the Boston Celtics (25-15) on Thursday night at Kaseya Center to drop to 1-1 on its three-game homestand. The Heat ends the homestand on Saturday against the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder:
The Heat reaches the midway point of the season at 21-20 after a bad loss, blowing a double-digit fourth-quarter lead at home.
The Heat led by as many as 19 points in the first half, shooting an efficient 51.1 percent from the field and 10 of 23 (43.5 percent) from three-point range in the first two quarters.
But behind a 22-7 first-half edge in second-chance points, the Celtics managed to cut the deficit to 10 at halftime.
The Heat extended its lead to 15 points with 1:48 left in the third quarter, but that’s when the Celtics made their run.
The Celtics clawed their way back into the game with a 16-4 spurt to cut the deficit to just three points with 7:15 left in the fourth quarter.
That run continued until the Celtics took their first lead since the opening seconds of the game at 101-100 with 5:21 to play.
Heat rookie guard Kasparas Jakucionis then made two free throws after being fouled to put Miami back ahead by one point with 5:01 left.
Celtics guard Anfernee Simons came right back and hit a three-pointer to give Boston a two-point advantage with 4:45 remaining.
Jakucionis again answered, though, making a three to allow the Heat again pull ahead by one point with 4:25 to play.
But the Celtics finally gained some breathing room, going on a 9-2 run to pull ahead by six points with 1:38 left in the fourth quarter.
After Norman Powell made a seven-footer to trim the deficit to four with 1:24 to play, the Heat had a few opportunities to make it a one possession game in the final seconds after some defensive stops.
But Tyler Herro missed an 8-footer with 55.2 seconds left and Adebayo missed a 7-footer 25.5 seconds remaining, allowing the Celtics to hold on to a four-point lead and the comeback win.
The Heat totaled just 21 points on 7-of-22 (31.8 percent) shooting from the field and 3-of-10 (30 percent) shooting from three-point range in the fourth quarter.
The Celtics won the fourth quarter 36-21 to rally for the victory.
Simons led the way for Boston, closing with a game-high 39 points on 13-of-28 shooting from the field and 7-of-16 shooting on threes.
Jaylen Brown added 27 points and seven rebounds for Boston.
The Heat’s leading trio of Bam Adebayo (22 points, five rebounds and three assists), Herro (22 points) and Powell (26 points) combined for 70 points, but it wasn’t enough.
The Heat was outscored 31-7 in second-chance points in the loss.
After breaking out of a month-long shooting slump earlier this week, Adebayo turned in his second straight standout offensive performance. But the Heat couldn’t survive the minutes he spent on the bench.
Adebayo closed Thursday’s loss with 22 points on 8-of-19 shooting from the field, 3-of-7 shooting on threes and 3-of-4 shooting from the foul line, four rebounds and five assists. He also posted a plus/minus of plus 13.
The problem is the Heat was outscored by 18 points in the 15 minutes that Adebayo wasn’t on the court Thursday.
This comes two nights after Adebayo totaled 29 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 shooting on threes to go with nine rebounds, four assists, two steals and one block in Tuesday’s win over the Phoenix Suns.
Before this strong two-game stretch, Adebayo averaged just 11.4 points per game on 37.1 percent shooting from the field and 5-of-23 (21.7 percent) shooting from three-point range over his previous 11 games.
The Heat hopes these two games mark the start of mid-season turnaround for Adebayo, as he entered Thursday averaging the fewest points since his third NBA season at 16.8 points per game and shooting a career-low 45.6 percent from the field this season.
The Heat has labeled Jaime Jaquez Jr. (left knee soreness) and Davion Mitchell (left shoulder contusion) as day-to-day with their injuries.
Jaquez, who has established himself as one of the NBA’s top reserves this season, missed his fourth game of the season. He played in the Heat’s last game, recording 16 points, four rebounds and eight assists in 31 minutes in Tuesday’s victory over the Suns but then missed Wednesday’s practice with his knee issue before being ruled out for Thursday’s contest.
Jaquez underwent an MRI on Thursday that only showed irritation in his knee.
Mitchell, who has started in each of his 38 appearances this season, missed his third game of the season.
Mitchell hurt his shoulder while trying to run through a screen early in the third quarter of Tuesday’s win over the Suns.
Mitchell remained on the court for the next few possessions, and even made a midrange jumper after hurting his shoulder. But during the next stoppage of play, Mitchell was evaluated by Heat trainers before heading back to the locker room with 9:07 left in the third quarter and not returning.
Mitchell has not needed to undergo an MRI for his injured shoulder.
Along with missing Jaquez and Mitchell, the Heat was also without Myron Gardner (G League), Vlad Goldin (G League), Terry Rozier (not with team) and Jahmir Young (G League) against the Celtics.
The Celtics only were missing Josh Minott (left ankle sprain) and Jayson Tatum (right Achilles repair) for Thursday’s game in Miami.
With Mitchell out, the Heat used its 13th different starting lineup of the season on Thursday.
The Heat opened with a lineup of Tyler Herro, Norman Powell, Pelle Larsson, Andrew Wiggins and Bam Adebayo. Not only did Thursday mark this group’s first start together, but this five-man combination had only played one minute together this season prior to this start.
But this Heat lineup started Thursday’s game strong, opening on an 18-4 run before Miami turned to the bench for the first time with 7:21 left in the first quarter.
Larsson, who took the injured Mitchell’s spot in the starting lineup, made his 20th start of the season on Thursday.
Larsson finished the loss with seven points, three rebounds and two assists in 30 minutes.
With Jaquez out, rookie guard Kasparas Jakucionis filled in as the Heat’s sixth man on Thursday. But second-year center Kel’el Ware’s minutes were cut.
The Heat used a bench rotation of Jakucionis, Nikola Jovic, Kel’el Ware, Dru Smith and Simone Fontecchio against the Celtics.
Jakucionis, who was the first Heat reserve to enter the game, finished the defeat with 12 points on 3-of-4 shooting from three-point range and 3-of-4 shooting from the foul line, five rebounds and nine assists in 27 minutes.
Jakucionis, 19, was picked by the Heat with the 20th selection in the first round of last year’s draft.
Jakucionis has spent most of his rookie season out of the Heat’s rotation, but the team’s injury issues have led to him logging extended minutes in a few games this season. Thursday marked the eighth game that he has played double-minutes this season.
However, Ware played only 8:49 and he didn’t play in the second half. Ware recorded three points on 1-of-5 shooting from the field and 1-of-4 shooting from three-point range and five rebounds during his first-half stint, and the Heat was outscored by eight points while he was on the court.
In the second half, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra opted to play a smaller lineup that featured Jovic at center while Adebayo was resting.