Heat drop to Celtics

With the Celtics still missing Kevin Garnett, and the Heat missing Jamario and Udonis, both shorthanded teams met Friday night. Jamario injured his groin against the Hornets and team physicians wanted Moon to sit this game out. "It actually feels better now," Moon said. "So we're just doing a lot of treatment on it. They just want me to rest it."

Before the game, Celtic guard Ray Allen was awarded the Red Auerbach Award. The Red Auerbach Award is given to that Celtic player who is best exemplifying the spirit of what it means to be a Celtic. Ray was quite surprised to receive the award. “I’m thinking OK, somebody’s getting an award and then when they said Celtic, I looked behind me to see who was going to step up. It was a great surprise. I was totally overwhelmed. I like the way they did it. I don’t know what my reaction looked like, but I was totally surprised,", Allen said.

Now to the game, the Heat came out strong in the first quarter with Jermaine O'Neal hitting a couple shots to put the Heat up 25-22 heading into the second quarter. The C's dominated the second quarter, outscoring the Heat by 10, heading into halftime with a seven point lead. The battle between Dwyane Wade and Paul Pierce began in the second half and both were hitting shots. Even with the good play of Dwyane Wade and Michael Beasley, the Heat still found themselves down at the end of the third. The Heat crawled back in the fourth led by Dwyane Wade who hit a clutch three-pointer to give the heat the lead, 88-87. Late in the fourth, still a close game, Jermaine O'Neal hit a jumper in the paint with about 2:50 to go. The Celtics answered with a run led by Paul Pierce and the C's went on to win 105-98. Dwyane Wade led all with 31 points, nine assists, and three rebounds. Leading the C's was Paul Pierce with 28 points including four 3-pointers. Michael Beasley had a terrific game starting in place of Undonis Haslem, and had 23 points and 13 rebounds.

With that Heat loss, the Atlanta Hawks clinched home court advantage. However, the 76ers lost last night to the Cavaliers and the Heat still hold a one game lead over Philly in the standings. Miami will face the New York Knicks in Miami on Sunday at 6:00PM.