The Boston Celtics will look to avoid consecutive losses when they take on the visiting Miami Heat on Monday.
Cleveland handed the short-handed Boston team a 115-111 defeat at home on Sunday night. The Celtics were without starters Jaylen Brown (illness) and Derrick White (foot). Brown, the team’s second-leading scorer, averages 24.7 points per game, while White is fourth on the team with 18.3 points per game.
Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 33 points, and Payton Pritchard added 24, but their efforts weren’t enough to maintain a 93-81 lead in the fourth quarter, ending Boston’s seven-game winning streak.
The Celtics shot 40.0 percent from the field (38 of 95) in the loss.
Miami also saw their two-game winning streak snapped with a 119-116 loss to Toronto on Sunday, despite a 31-point performance from Tyler Herro. Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier each contributed 17 points for the Heat, who fell to 5-5 on the road this season.
Butler sustained a knee injury while being fouled on a layup with 1:27 remaining and exited the game with 24.2 seconds left. He told reporters he is unsure if he will be able to play on Monday.
Herro, who made 6 of his 12 three-point attempts, missed a potential game-tying three-pointer with 29 seconds remaining. He has scored at least 20 points in 12 of the Heat’s first 18 games this season and entered Sunday’s contest averaging a team-high 23.6 points per game.
Miami received 13 points and a season-high 20 rebounds from Bam Adebayo, who had a career-best 21 rebounds in a loss at Toronto in 2018.
The Heat allowed a season-high 68 points in the paint during the loss.
Monday’s matchup will begin a stretch of four home games in six days for the Celtics.
