Observations from Heat’s Loss to Celtics

BOSTON – Observations and other notes of interest from Friday night’s 129-116 loss to the Boston Celtics:

– Yes, a loss.

– But not a lost night.

– Not after seeing Kasparas Jakucionis.

– For real, even in defeat.

– Another first-round find?

– Yes, just one night, but he delivered on both ends in his first NBA start.

– In only his second career rotation action, following his first the night before.

– The 3-point shooting? his shots were consistently true.

– For this team, that helps. A lot.

– But also the defensive tenacity to stand up to all of the Celtics’ challenges.

– The Heat’s crowded backcourt rotation just got more crowded.

– In a good way.

– It’s going to be hard, very hard, to not feature the kid.

– Think about the last three drafts: Jaime Jaquez Jr.,Kel’el Ware,Kasparas Jakucionis. (Jaquez was better than his numbers indicated in this one.)

– There has to be a significant Christmas bonus coming for Adam Simon.

– The draft hits keep on coming, even as the search for wins remains ongoing.

– As for what the Heat were forced to roll out in this one … NBA back-to-backs are brutal.

– Especially ones that include travel.

– Especially ones that make no sense, with the Heat leaving their Manhattan hotel on Thursday for their Thursday night game in Brooklyn against the Nets, then flying to Boston for Friday night’s game against the Celtics, only to return Saturday to new York for Sunday night’s game against the Knicks.

– Does that mean with more commonsense scheduling that Andrew Wiggins (back) and Davion mitchell (ankle) otherwise might have been available in Boston, without the back-to-back, without the travel?

– We’ll get a better read when the Heat turn in their lineup card Sunday in New york.

– But treatment and travel aren’t necessarily an optimal combination.

– And neither is a lack of recovery time, as the NBA packs its schedule to allow for its event scheduling, such as the NBA Cup and the All-Star break.

– And so, a Heat roster that on Friday lacked Wiggins, Mitchell, Tyler Herro, Pelle Larsson and Nikola Jovic, among others.

– Desperation to the degree that a night after getting his first rotation minutes, Jakucionis was in the starting lineup.