The Boston Celtics are one of the few NBA teams with a better record on the road than at home this season, but they have a chance to narrow that gap Wednesday when they host the red-hot Miami Heat.
Boston (56-19) is coming off a 6-0 road trip that raised the team’s road record to 32-7. It marked the longest road trip without a loss in franchise history, topping a 5-0 trip by the Celtics in February 1973. Boston won all six games by double digits with an average victory margin of 17.8 points.
“It’s special any time you make history in this league,” Jayson Tatum said following Boston’s 117-103 victory Monday at Memphis. “You have to enjoy that. Six games; 12 or 13 days away from home.
“Just a mindset of what we did last year,” Tatum added. “We won a championship and the idea that regardless of your record or your seed, you have to win some games on the road in the playoffs if you want to be a champion. Kind of establish that mindset throughout the regular season.”
Boston will enter Wednesday’s matchup on a nine-game winning streak with victories in 14 of its last 15 games.
“I just think we’ve been very focused,” said veteran center Al Horford. “I feel like even last year, we were good and especially in the playoffs we did a really good job on the road, controlling the tempo, being able to play a certain way. It’s pretty special the way that we’re playing and some of the things we’re doing here.”
Miami (34-41) has regrouped since losing 10 straight in March and will attempt Wednesday to extend a five-game winning streak. The Heat beat Washington 120-94 Monday without Andrew Wiggins (hamstring), Duncan Robinson (back), Kevin Love (personal reasons) and Davion Mitchell, who was a late scratch because of a stomach illness. Wiggins, Robinson and Love will all sit out Wednesday.
Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo have each led the team in scoring twice in the last four games. Herro has scored 29, 20, 36, 30 and 27 points in his last five outings.
“The team is gaining a lot of confidence,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said after Monday’s win. “We have a lot of guys out right now. We’re thinking about everybody who’s (home) in Miami, then Davion gets sick and everybody’s just ready. It’s really a collective energy pouring life into each other following Tyler and Bam, and other guys are contributing.”
Miami has won its last five games by an average of 20.4 points, but the Heat are 0-3 against Boston this season. The Celtics won 108-89 the only time the teams met in Boston.
“I think we’ve been doing all the karma things, as (Spoelstra) likes to say, that are putting us in a good position,” said Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr., who contributed 14 points in 24 minutes off the bench Monday. “Taking each game seriously. This is all to prepare for a game like we have Wednesday against Boston.
“That good karma should be paying off, and I know everyone is going there confident and in good spirits. I think that’s more important than anything. We’re looking forward to it.”
–Field Level Media
