The back-to-back is the best way to discard the pain of a loss quickly. For the Heat and Celtics in Boston on Friday night, both had chances to reverse the outcomes of losses to the Hornets and Cavaliers respectively. The Celts sat at 3-3 on the second half of back-to-backs, Miami 1-5.
Both sides felt extra pain coming in, Goran Dragic was out with an aggravated back from 30+ minutes of play against Charlotte. Avery Bradley fell ill on the journey back to Boston and would miss his first game of the year. Meanwhile Josh McRoberts remained out but the C’s had to grapple with Wayne Ellington who they had not seen in prior games.