MIAMI — Erik Spoelstra needed just one word to describe the way the Miami Heat played the last time they faced the Boston Celtics [team stats].
Unacceptable.
No further explanation was needed to sum up the Heat's 91-72 loss on April 1. Nine days have passed since arguably the worst defeat of the season.
Think the Heat are thinking payback?
You bet.
The chance comes Tuesday when they play the Celtics at AmericanAirlines Arena.
"Guys are looking forward to this game," Spoelstra said.
Where to start in what went wrong for the Heat in the last meeting? They were outscored 31-12 in the third quarter. They shot 34 percent from the field. They scored 28 points in the second half. And then there was the embarrassing block Celtics guard Avery Bradley had on Dwyane Wade, who fell to the floor after the play.
"We played a bad game," Wade said. "They beat us pretty good. ... It'll be nice to get them on our home turf."
As for what happened just more than a week ago, expect it to be on the Heat's mind. The 19-point defeat was the largest of the season.
"Sometimes you need to get thumped just to put things in perspective," forward Chris Bosh said. "That was good for our psyche. We don't like getting beat like that. It was an embarrassing loss. We're trying to fix everything and get back to the level we were playing at before All-Star break."
The game is expected to have a playoff feel, especially with the Heat needing a victory to keep pace with the Chicago Bulls. The Heat trail the Bulls by two games in the race for the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. Miami plays at Chicago on Thursday.
"You know how the playoffs are," Bosh said. "You might get smacked in Game 1, and two days later, you've got to compete in Game 2. We're going to make our adjustments. We're going to look at the mistakes that we made and come out and do a much better job."
The Heat are just 6-4 in their last 10 games, while the Celtics are one of the league's hottest teams. Despite their aging core players, Boston has won nine of the last 12. Many felt they would struggle this season because of the lockout-shortened season, especially late in the year.
The Celtics instead have played like a rejuvenated group. A healthy Rajon Rondo [stats] and solid coaching from Doc Rivers make them just as dangerous as ever. Rivers moved Kevin Garnett to center and now brings guard Ray Allen off the bench, placing Bradley in the starting lineup.
"I never get involved with that," Heat forward LeBron James said. "They're too good of a team, they're too well-coached. I never get into that too-old mess. What's amazing about it? They've got four probably Hall of Famers. ... It doesn't surprise me."
(c)2012 the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) Distributed by MCT Information Services
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