Final: Celtics 108, Heat 89 - C's sloppy, but defense fuels blowout win

BOSTON CELTICS (16-4) vs. MIAMI HEAT (9-9)

TD Garden, 7:30 p.m. - NBCS Boston

Line: Boston -8.5

INJURIES

Boston: Kristaps Porzingis (OUT, foot rehab), Al Horford (OUT, toe), Jrue Holiday (OUT, knee), Jaylen Brown (QUESTIONABLE, illness), Sam Hauser (OUT, personal reasons).

Miami: Jimmy Butler (OUT, knee), Nikola Jovic (OUT, ankle), Kevin Love (OUT, back), Josh Richardson (OUT, illness), Kel’el Ware (OUT, foot)

THINGS I’M LOOKING FOR

1. Non-Bam Adebayo minutes: He’s the key to holding Miami’s defense together. He’ll be tough without either of Boston’s stretch bigs to pull him away from the basket, but he has to sit sometime. So as long as the Celtics stay even or close with Adebayo on the floor, they have a chance to build a lead with him off it. 

2. Defending the 3: It’s too early to declare a trend, but I’m still watching how the Celtics defend the 3-point line with and without Porzingis. Miami takes about 40 per game, so where will they end up. The Bulls are a high-volume team and Boston allowed them to shoot above their average. Cleveland hit their average and shot better than usual. So let’s see how tonight goes without KP and see if we can spot a trend. 

3. Peterson again?: Will Joe Mazzull dip back into that well or will the matchup dictate a different direction? 

Follow along with my thoughts as the game goes on. They’ll show up below and in the comments section, so hop in and share your opinion as well.