Payton Pritchard #11 of the Boston Celtics drives to the basket against the Miami Heat during the second half at the TD Garden on February 06, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. Brian Fluharty Getty Images
One of the few consistent things about the Miami Heat these days is its inconsistent play.
“We know what we have to work on is our consistency,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said following Friday’s morning shootaround in Boston. “We have a high ceiling, but we need to do it more consistently.”
A few hours later, the inconsistent Heat remained inconsistent.
After pulling ahead by as many as 22 points and entering halftime of Friday night’s game at TD Garden with a 21-point lead, the Heat collapsed and was outscored 60-37 in the second half in what turned out to be a 98-96 loss to the Boston Celtics. The Heat has now blown a double-digit lead in an NBA-high 31 losses since the start of last season.
A big reason for the Heat’s recent in-game ups and downs is its third-quarter struggles, as it has the NBA’s fourth-worst third-quarter net rating this season (outscored by 8.5 points per 100 possessions).
That problem popped up again Friday, when the Celtics outscored the Heat 36-15 in the third quarter to erase a 21-point halftime deficit, take their first lead of the night with 9.1 seconds left in the third quarter and enter fourth quarter with the score tied at 74.
The Celtics then took that momentum into a competitive fourth quarter that included four lead changes and four ties, completing the comeback win. It marked Boston’s first win after trailing by 20 or more points at halftime since April 2021.
“I don’t know,” Spoelstra said following Friday’s defeat when asked to explain the Heat’s third-quarter issues. “We’ve tried everything.”
But then Spoelstra tried to explain what went wrong in the Heat’s latest third-quarter debacle on Friday.
First, Spoelstra pointed to the fact that starting guards Norman Powell and Pelle Larsson both were missing for at least a chunk of the third quarter.
Powell left Friday’s contest with 9:57 left in the third quarter because of a finger injury on his right hand. Powell eventually returned with 4:16 left in the third quarter to finish the game after an X-ray on his right hand returned negative, referring to his injury as a hyperextension.
Larsson exited the contest with 5:01 left in the second quarter because of a right elbow contusion and did not return. An X-ray and/or MRI was not scheduled for Larsson as of Friday night, but “I was trying to warm up at halftime and was shooting and was struggling to get it to the rim.”
“It was a little bit chaotic with Pelle going out right before we started the half,” Spoelstra said, with the Heat moving on to close its quick two-game trip on Sunday against the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena (2 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Sun). “Then Norm had to come out for a little bit. But that’s not an excuse.”
Then Spoelstra referenced the Heat’s first defensive possessions of Friday’s third quarter, when Celtics forward Jaylen Brown made a six-footer while being fouled by Heat forward Simone Fontecchio. Brown went on to miss the free throw, but ended up grabbing the offensive rebound and center Luka Garza capitalized by making a basket to complete the four-point possession and cut the Heat’s lead from 21 to 17 within the first 29 seconds of the third quarter.
“It really started with that free-throw line block out,” Spoelstra said when trying to explain Friday’s third-quarter woes. “That’s the point I’ve been making to the team. You’ve got to check all the boxes first, like the easy things. There are a lot of hard things in this league, but we didn’t block out on a free throw. And we know that our level of urgency and attention to detail and everything coming out of the third quarter, that’s what we’re trying to conquer. And to me, that was one of the most disappointing plays.”
Hugo Gonzalez #28 of the Boston Celtics and Norman Powell #24 of the Miami Heat battle for the ball during the second half at the TD Garden on February 06, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. Brian Fluharty Getty Images
The Heat has now been outscored by its opponent in nine of the last 11 third quarters, with Miami also being outscored 612-465 from three-point range in the period this season.
“It’s very frustrating,” Powell said. “I said before, early this morning at shootaround, we have to put a full 48-minute game together. That’s our Achilles heel. The Achilles heel is the third quarter coming out at a pace of how we need to play in the same mentality when we start the games and then sustaining it through the second half. We play a good 24 minutes. We’ve got to finish it with another good 24 minutes.”
Heat center and captain Bam Adebayo added that the Heat “just got to have more energy, more pace” and “just got to keep doing the little things” to be better in third quarters.
“At some point we’re going to get tired of putting our hand on that hot stove,” Adebayo continued.
The middling Heat, which is the only Eastern Conference team that didn’t make a move ahead of Thursday’s NBA trade deadline, is now 13-19 in its last 32 games following a strong 14-7 start to the season. Miami sits in eighth place in the East at 27-26 this season.
“Guys really competed hard,” Spoelstra said after the Heat’s loss in Boston. “We’re not looking for a moral victory. It’s disappointing, but we’re going to get better from it. As painful as this is, it’s going to drive us. And I feel we’re going to get there.”