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Heat getting healthier, makes statement with win in Boston: ‘We have something good going on’

The Miami Heat and Boston Celtics have met in the Eastern Conference finals in two of the last three seasons.

The Celtics have again looked like a championship contender early this season with the best record in the NBA at 18-5. But the Heat has struggled to get on track this season, with a subpar 11-12 record following a 7-11 start amid injury issues that have kept some of its best players out for extended stretches.

Heat loses late lead, then wins in overtime in Boston. Takeaways and reaction

However, the Heat’s 120-116 overtime statement win over the Celtics on Friday at TD Garden served as a reminder that another East finals matchup between Miami and Boston should not be ruled out just yet. With Jimmy Butler returning from right knee soreness that forced him to miss the previous seven games, the Heat had its core four of Bam Adebayo, Butler, Tyler Herro and Kyle Lowry available to play together on Friday for the first time since Nov. 1.

“I think our spirits have been high,” Herro said following Friday’s overtime victory in Boston, with the Heat set to complete its four-game trip on Monday against the Memphis Grizzlies. “We’re not worried about proving anyone right or wrong. This is about us, our group. Just got to continue to get better. We’re not really worried about how we started, who’s hurt and who’s not. We’re starting to get healthy, get everyone back in the lineup.”

Butler’s return made a big difference, as he finished with 25 points on 12-of-21 shooting from the field and 15 rebounds in Friday’s win over the Celtics. With the Heat ahead by two points, Butler hit a clutch step-back jumper over Celtics center Al Horford to extend Miami’s lead to four points with 9.4 seconds to play in overtime to seal the win.

“He’s such a winning player,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Butler. “Through the first three quarters, I didn’t even run one play for him. He just finds a way to compete and help your team win. He’s around the ball all the time, so whether it’s an offensive rebound or cut or it’s a random pull-up jump shot somewhere else, he’s constantly putting your team in a position to be efficient offensively.

“He plays the game the right way. He’s not barking at his coach saying he needs the ball or to get him this amount of shots. He’s never saying anything like that. He’s just competing and playing the game trying to help your team win and he competes on both ends. He was doing it on all those random miscellaneous plays through the first three quarters. Then when we got to clutch time down the stretch, he did what he does. He just makes plays and makes big shots.”

Butler noted that his return on Friday was made easier because the Heat has “guys that are gaining confidence and they continually play the same way whenever I get back.”

“He’s been itching to get back,” Lowry said of Butler. “A guy like him, he was nervous with his knee. Fortunately some rest and rehab and recovery [helped].”

But Butler had plenty of help, as each of the Heat’s five starters closed Friday’s overtime victory with double-digit points.

Adebayo finished with a team-high 28 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the field and 8-of-9 shooting from the foul line to go with seven rebounds and three assists. He has averaged 25.3 points on 53.7 percent shooting from the field, 9.9 rebounds and three assists in his last nine games.

Herro ended the night with 26 points while shooting 10 of 19 from the field and 6 of 10 from three-point range, five rebounds, three assists and three steals. He’s averaging career-highs in rebounds (6.4 per game) and assists (4.1 per game) this season.

Lowry recorded 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field and 2-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc, five rebounds and four assists. He has scored 20 or more points in four of the last eight games.

Martin contributed 10 points while shooting 4 of 9 from the field and 1 of 3 on threes. He’s averaging career-highs in points (11.2 per game), rebounds (five per game), assists (two per game), steals (1.2 per game) and minutes (32.1 per game) this season.

“We never lost confidence in this group, in ourselves,” Butler said. “We know what we’re capable of. We just have to go out and prove it. We’re not worried about anybody else, just the guys in our locker room and coaching staff, ownership, management. We have a long way to go but we can get there.”

Friday marked just the second time ever that Adebayo, Butler, Herro and Lowry have each scored 20 or more points in the same game while members of the Heat. The first time came early last season in a Heat win over the Dallas Mavericks on Nov. 2, 2021.

“Our big four was tremendous tonight at different stages of the game,” Spoelstra said. “They all were able to put their imprint on the game offensively. They were not in each other’s way.”

The key to sustained success this season will be remaining healthy as it continues to get players back from injury. Heat players have already combined to miss the second-most games in the NBA this season because of injury at 85 games behind only the Orlando Magic, according to Spotrac.

Injuries have limited the Heat’s starting lineup of Lowry, Herro, Butler, Martin and Adebayo to just eight games together this season. The five-man group has outscored opponents by 5.6 points per 100 possessions in 98 minutes.

“I think us getting healthy, getting bodies back, kind of getting into groove — we’re now in December so we can kind of start piecing things together,” Lowry said. “We went through hopefully our stretch of unfortunate luck with injuries. Hopefully that’s done for us and we can continue to grow.”

Despite entering Saturday in ninth place in the Eastern Conference standings, Spoelstra called the Heat’s sub-.500 record “deceiving” because “we have something good going on.”

The Heat is still far away from where it was last season, when it closed the regular season as the No. 1 playoff seed in the East before finishing just one win short of the NBA Finals. But Friday’s win in Boston served as a reminder that Miami can still be an elite team when healthy.

“You got to think about it, we were No. 1 in the East and people didn’t even pay us any mind,” Adebayo said, referring to last season. “Then being where we’re at now, they’re definitely not talking about us. The biggest thing for us is just stacking up the wins.”