Boston Celtics Erase 22-Point Deficit, Nikola Vucevic Double-Double to Beat Miami: Three Reasons Why They Won

They stopped playing double-big
Payton Pritchard caught fire (and so did Vucevic, to some degree)
Derrick White became Derrick White again

BOSTON — The Celtics went from looking terrible to looking amazing as they went from down 22 to up five late in the game, holding on for a 98-96 win over the Miami Heat. Nikola Vucevic had a double-double off the bench in his debut, and Boston got 20-plus from Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, and Payton Pritchard.

Box Score

Game flow: Miami stormed out to a 29-15 lead, which started as a 25-6 run, behind Bam Adebayo’s 10 points and eight from Norm Powell. The Celtics shot 6-24 to start the game, 1-10 from 3. The Celtics bench propped them up early, and Jaylen Brown went off for 15 in the second quarter, but the Celtics defense allowed another 30 from Miami to go into the half down 59-38. It continued to look bad, but the Celtics went away from their double-big lineup in the third quarter and went on a 25-5 run to head into the fourth quarter tied at 74. The Celtics narrowly won the fourth, thanks to five trips to the free throw line. Both teams made eight baskets and four three-pointers, but Boston was 4-5 from the line while Miami was 2-2.

Here are three reasons they won the game.

They stopped playing double-big

Miami was just too small and athletic for the combination of Neemias Queta and Luka Garza. That combo worked against a bigger Houston team, but it became clear that they couldn't handle Miami. There were stretches where Queta had to guard Davion Mitchell, which is too much to ask.

“I think you can overprepare,” Joe Mazzulla admitted. “I think you can overthink. I think you can just get to a point where, okay, we acquired somebody new, here's all the possibilities we could get to. We may see five of those tonight, instead of just focusing on one or two … that starts with me, and we'll clean some of that up tomorrow.”

Quetta and Garza checked out with 7:06 to go in the third quarter and Miami up 67-49. The game was tied at 74 heading into the fourth quarter.

Payton Pritchard caught fire (and so did Vucevic, to some degree)

Pritchard and Vucevic checked in at that point, and combined for 17 points over those final seven minutes. Pritchard got hot from three, and Vucevic started punishing mismatches down low. He also grabbed five rebounds (two offensive).

Pritchard is going off as the sixth man. The double-big thing is up in the air, but Pritchard off the bench has him back in a comfort zone.

Payton Pritchard and 1! The TD Garden crowd is fired up after the Celtics go on a 12-0 run pic.twitter.com/gltaevMnCv
— Danielle Hobeika (@DanielleHobeika) February 7, 2026

“I think Payton has just developed different aspects of his game,” Brown said. “Offensively, he's always been able to be a three-point threat. He established that. But now I feel like learning to use his body, get to the mid-range, get his shot off and be effective and efficient has helped take him to another step. Finding ways to get to the basket. He looks great.”

Derrick White became Derrick White again

He had a disaster of a first half. It was as bad as I’ve seen him play. At one point he trucked a Miami shooter, which was ruled a flagrant-1, and he just kept on walking up the court talking to himself in frustration. He had four points and was -21 at halftime.

Then he played the whole third, scoring eight points, dishing three assists, and going +21 for the quarter. Tack on another nine in the fourth and his second half stats ended up being 17 points on 4-9 shooting, 4-5 from three, three assists, a steal, a block, +27.

Of course, he made two of the biggest plays of the game, hitting the go-ahead three-pointer with 1:31 to go and then blocking Mitchell at the rim with 32 seconds left to prevent the tie.

PLUS/MINUS

PLUSES

► Vucevic was second on the team with four assists. His passing is an underrated element of his game. He really has the potential to have an Al Horford-like impact on this offense.

► Baylor Scheierman was +17. He grabbed seven boards in this game, and his rebounding has been a big reason why he continues to get minutes. Also, this block:

Baylor Scheierman comes out of nowhere for the block, then a Payton Pritchard one legged jumper gives the Celtics the lead pic.twitter.com/B3Mr6V6zWO
— Danielle Hobeika (@DanielleHobeika) February 7, 2026

► This play from Hugo Gonzalez is why I gush about him.

Hugo Gonzalez steal pic.twitter.com/Y4m3maW6ca
— Danielle Hobeika (@DanielleHobeika) February 7, 2026

I have a very high opinion of this kid. I think he’s going to be a special player. These instincts are why. They anticipation for the steal, the pass that he threw from that angle … like Cedric Maxwell likes to say, somebody get me a napkin.

MINUSES

► Jaylen Brown’s second quarter was massive in keeping Boston close, so I don’t want to overlook that when I say he wasn’t great in this game despite his 29 points. He was inefficient (11-25 fg) and he turned it over seven times.

“I was trying to figure it out, probably overthinking it a little bit. It wasn't my best game,” he said, citing the attempt to integrate Vucevic as part of the issue. “I think I was just thinking too much. But it'll flow. It’ll flow. We've done well with shooting fives in the past and history, so I think it'll flow.”

► This was not Luka Garza’s night. I’m very curious to see how the addition of Vucevic impacts his minutes. Vucevic does a lot of what Garza does.

►Sam Hauser was just 1-7, 0-6 from three.

Next up: They host the Knicks on Sunday afternoon.