Miami Heat Lose to Boston Celtics, Sinking Their Season Deeper

(Nov. 12) -- Once again, the Boston Celtics had the Miami Heat's number, beating the presumptive Eastern Conference favorites on Thursday night 112-107. The old Big Three outplayed the new Big Three, punctuated by Ray Allen's 35 points (including seven three-pointers) and stellar defense on Dwayne Wade, who finished with a mere eight.

Meanwhile, Boston's Rajon Rondo delivered 16 assists (plus a thunderous dunk) and continued to make his case that he's the best point guard in the league. Paul Pierce chipped in 25 as well, but he scored his biggest point on Twitter after the game, tweaking LeBron James' preseason television appearance in which James announced he would be joining the Heat by saying, "I'm going to take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat."

Riffing on that line, Pierce tweeted:

It's been a pleasure to bring my talents to south beach now on to Memphisless than a minute ago via Twitter for iPhonePaul Pierce
paulpierce34

Before a single ball was dribbled this season, some speculated that the Heat might break the single-season wins record set by the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, who finished with 72 wins. So much for that. The Heat are now 5-4 and trailing Orlando and Atlanta in their division.

The Heat's flaws are now obvious to everyone. Their biggest concern is their lack of an inside threat. Chris Bosh is the least-celebrated of Miami's Big Three with good reason. He's a smallish power forward. On Thursday, Boston's Kevin Garnett out-rebounded Bosh, 13-7. And in the absence of an inside threat, the Heat's opponents can pack it in against Wade and James and force them to shoot perimeter jump shots rather than attacking the rim.

While the season is early and the newly formed Heat will undoubtedly improve, these larger problems aren't going away. They'll only be magnified if the Heat somehow win the Eastern Conference and find themselves facing off in the finals against the Los Angeles Lakers, who have the best front line in the NBA (plus Kobe Bryant). In fact, if there's any team that has a chance of matching the Bulls' regular-season record, it's the Lakers, who were undefeated until Thursday, when they dropped their first game to the Denver Nuggets.

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