Heat Star Says They ‘Wanted It More’ In Game 2 Win Over Celtics

(Photo By Winslow Townson/Getty Images)

The Miami Heat were once again without Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier on Wednesday night.

Additionally, they took on the Boston Celtics in Boston for Game 2 after suffering a 114-94 loss just days before.

But the Heat scored a massively important 111-101 win, evening the series and shaking up the Celtics.

Following the game, Heat rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. spoke about how the Heat were able to earn such a pivotal triumph.

“We wanted it more, took a lot of pride in our matchups. It came down to toughness and will to win,” Jaquez said, per Naveen Ganglani.

“I think the focus was to score more points & they score less. That’s kinda what it was.”

“We wanted it more, took a lot of pride in our matchups. It came down to toughness & will to win.”

— Naveen Ganglani (@naveenganglani) April 25, 2024

Jaquez said that the team’s focus was to “score more points” while ensuring that the Celtics scored less.

It seems like a simple plan but it is one that worked marvelously for the Heat.

Miami landed 49.3% of their field-goal attempts, including 53.5% from the three-point line.

It didn’t matter that they were short-handed or that they were in Boston and had experienced a painful defeat over the weekend.

The Heat were still determined to win and believed in what they could do and that was evident throughout the game.

Now there is great speculation about how the Celtics will respond.

This opening round will move down to Miami for the next two games, giving the Heat a home-court advantage and perhaps a lot more momentum.

The Celtics are a smart, well-coached team and they might be able to earn their own revenge game, just like the Heat did on Wednesday.

But if they don’t and Miami earns another victory, it’ll make all Boston fans incredibly nervous.

The Heat showed a wonderful amount of toughness and dedication in Game 2; can they do it again in Game 3?

More importantly, can the Celtics show it too?