The Miami Heat’s strange season continued with a victory over the previously unstoppable Boston Celtics.
A few weeks ago the Miami Heat could not buy a win, no matter how hard they tried. The team reached 10 consecutive losses, one away from matching a franchise record.
Now the Heat have won six games in a row, including a win over the Boston Celtics, that was not even close. The 124-106 victory kept their momentum going, with a real team performance.
The Celtics had been on a nine-game win streak of their own, but Jaylen Brown’s 24 points not enough to trouble the Heat.
Miami were led by Tyler Herro’s 25 points and 21 from Bam Adebayo – but the difference may have been Kyle Anderson’s 19 from the bench.
Kyle Anderson scored 19 points in 24 minutes in an efficient shooting night. He was 7-11 from the field, 1-2 from three and 4-4 from the free throw line.
Anderson began the season with the Golden State Warriors before being thrown into the Jimmy Butler trade and sent to the Miami Heat.
His best night of the season came against Boston, and Anderson cited the Celtics’ decision-making for his success, allowing him too much space.
Speaking post-game, Anderson told Heat media: “Just taking what they give me really. They had some of their better defenders on some of our better offensive players as they should.
“Whenever I saw a one on one opportunity, I just tried to make the most of it.”
Kyle Anderson’s biggest output for the Miami Heat this season beforehand was a 15-point performance against the Dallas Mavericks.
This was just the third time he had hit double figures. His highest output on the Warriors this season was 13 points.
Anderson said he was glad to take some pressure away from Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro, who have been shouldering responsibility in recent weeks.
He said: “I think it’s big time, those two [Bam and Tyler] carry us, they do a lot for us. I think every night we got to give them that relief.
“I think Davion [Mitchell] and myself handling the ball takes a lot off Tyler’s plate and he’s able to to focus on scoring or catching it in the front court and scoring, as opposed to dribbling 94 feet and trying to carry the offensive load for us.”
Heading towards a Play-In tournament berth, Anderson says the win over the Celtics gives them confidence they can make an impact in the post-season.
“There’s not a team where we’re like ‘we’re scared of them’. We can compete with anybody. We shown that. Most important time of the year is coming up in two weeks, and we’ll see.”
