The Heat are down, but they’re not out.
Miami looked listless for the second consecutive game Wednesday night at FTX Arena. The Celtics matched the Heat in the lackluster basketball department in the first half of Game 5, but a furious second-half rally pushed Boston to a 93-80 win and a 3-2 series lead in the Eastern Conference finals.
The task that now awaits the Heat is a challenging one, to say the least. Miami will try to save its season Friday night at TD Garden, one of the more difficult venues to play in for opposing teams. But grinding through adversity is part of the beauty in the struggle that is a deep NBA playoff run, and head coach Erik Spoelstra wants his team to try to appreciate the moment.
“You’ve got to enjoy this,” Spoelstra told reporters, per ESPN. “You do. You know, if you want to break through and punch a ticket to the Finals, you’re going to have to do some ridiculously tough stuff. Getting on to Boston and figuring that out collectively, those are the emotions and the breakthroughs that you have that you remember the rest of your life. Bring this thing back on the 29th. That’s all we talked about in there.”
Oddsmakers aren’t crazy about the Heat’s chances of bringing the best-of-seven series back to South Beach for a winner-take-all clash. The Celtics currently are a 9-point favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook for Game 6.
