Coach Pat Riley will likely be back for Monday night's game at Indiana. Riley has been on the road scouting the NCAA Tournament.
Miami will have one fewer players for Monday night's game because its special exemption for a 17th roster spot expires. The Heat will still have an exemption for a 16th man, one above the league maximum, however, because it still has a host of injuries. Among guard Blake Ahearn, swingman Kasib Powell and forward Stephane Lasme, someone has to go. Ahearn and Lasme had their 10-day contracts expire Sunday while Powell's 10-day contract expires Monday. All will make the trip to Indiana but one won't return to Miami with the team.
Ahearn, a point guard who was the career NCAA Div. I free throw percentage leader at Missouri State (94.6 percent), said he's enjoyed everything about the NBA.
"This whole experience has been my first NBA everything," he said. "It's kind of been nonstop for 10 days, not just (Saturday) night."
Ahearn said he didn't sleep well Saturday night.
"I really couldn't sleep last night just because of the fact I'm playing the Boston Celtics," he said with a smile. "That's almost a bigger thing right there. That whole 10-day (contract) all takes care of itself. When it happens, it happens. If not, I'm just happy to play basketball."
CELTICS 88, HEAT 62: Miami established a NBA record for fewest field goals made in the shot clock era with 17 as it got blasted by the Celtics Sunday.
Celtics forward Paul Pierce said his team really had no choice.
"They've got D-Leaguers out there, so I think we just handled our business. I mean, they put four or five guys (actually three) from the D-League in and we did our business. We're supposed to do that."
Heat forward Ricky Davis was equally business-like.
"We tried to do everything," he said. "There's not a lot of stuff we can run with the new guys, and they just took out everything we tried to run."
