It used to be a rose garden, but now it’s just a heap of dead flowers at the Moda Center- the remains of lost hope and dreams. One can only wonder what emotions stirred in Joe Cronin’s mind when Jaime Jaquez and Nikola Jovic- two NBA younglings- boosted the Heat during its second-half comeback.

Tyler Herro was absent (knee), and so was Josh Richardson (shoulder) for the Heat. The Blazers were missing Malcolm Brogdon (elbow), Shaedon Sharpe (abdomen) and Robert Williams III (knee).

But early, even with Terry Rozier’s return from a knee injury, nothing worked for the Heat on the second night of a back-to-back as it fell to a 15-point deficit. Portland’s Deandre Ayton hit a pair of jumpers and slammed a lob. Anfernee Simons and Jerami Grant combined for five opening trays. And the Heat misfired on 15 of 21 attempts against man coverage and the 2-3 zone. At the end of the first quarter, the Trail Blazers led 28-15.

In the next frame, Ayton kept getting loose on two rim rolls, plus faced up Bam Adebayo and hooked over him in the lane. Portland’s second-round pick Toumani Camara even splashed two triples and a layup against the Heat’s zone.

But Butler retaliated, spinning past Grant and Duop Reath for consecutive finishes with contact. On the next play, he initiated the fastbreak and hit newcomer Delon Wright cutting on the baseline for a layup. And he set up Adebayo for two pick-and-pop jumpers in the paint.

Additionally, Rozier got to the cup in the open court, made a 3-pointer over drop coverage, and Wright set up two scores.

At halftime, the Heat was behind on the scoreboard 46-56 and outrebounded by six. The crew accumulated 26 paint points, six on the break, four via second chances and six after turnovers. Butler had 10 points, six assists and two steals. Adebayo and Rozier each had eight points.

The Blazers supplied 18 interior points, none on the break, nine from extra tries and 15 after turnovers. Ayton, Camara and Grant were its big three in the first half, uniting for 39 points on 14 of 23 shots.

(Ayton didn’t play the second half after hurting his hand on a collision with Kevin Love in the first. Duop Reath started in his place.)

Then the Heat kicked off the third quarter with an 8-0 run, courtesy of Robinson’s back-to-back trifectas and Butler’s dunk on the break. The guest’s avalanche followed with Butler canning a 3-pointer when left alone at the wing, Adebayo scoring in transition and Jović making two deep shots and a lob on the break. In the period, the Heat recorded 34 points on 11 of 16 ventures.

Defensively, the visitors locked up the Trail Blazers to 30.4% shooting in the third quarter with sharp man coverage and some zone. On top of that, the Heat permitted zero field goals (0 for eight) in the last four minutes of the interval, taking its first lead of the evening and going up by four heading into the fourth.

Despite the Blazers making five of 10 baskets to begin the quarter, the Heat was stronger. Martin seized the baseline for two points, Love made a top-of-the-key three, Butler connected on a baseline jumper over a double team, Rozier hit consecutive buckets, and the hosts didn’t hold on to the rope much longer.

Moreover, the Heat conceded 64% of attempts in the paint, late, but the Blazers failed on six 3-point attempts and three were open enough.

The Heat won 106-98, improving to an 18-12 road record (15-13 at Kaseya Center). The group had 40 paint points, 10 on the break, five on second chances and 11 after turnovers. Butler was the high Heatle, producing 22 on the scorecard, with four steals, two blocks, nine dimes and four boards. Rozier had 19 points, Robinson scored 17 and Adebayo contributed 13.

The Trail Blazers finished with 40 points in the square, two in the open court, 20 on additional opportunities and 23 after turnovers. Simons led the unit, scoring 26, followed by Grant’s 24 and Camara’s 17.

Rozier handled the on-court interview. He said he was anxious to suit up during the All-Star break and that he’s pleased to be healthy, providing and earning the recent win. When asked about the biggest challenge of playing with the team, he said, “Going from losing to winning.”

At the postgame presser, coach Erik Spoelstra said, “It was a challenging start to the game, but I thought this was a very good response, particularly in the second half. You could clearly see, [the Heat] were a little bit in the mud… We were playing a lot out of [Butler] and [Adebayo] in the post, and they were able to produce.”

The Heat will not practice on Wednesday.

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Did you see that?

The one possession that mattered in the All-Star Game for Heat supporters: Bam Adebayo dribbled upcourt, pulled up and swished a trifecta over Nikola Jokić. Instantly, the masses wondered how much his game could leap forward. If only TNT’s broadcast crew had the chops to quote Heat play-by-play caller Eric Reid with a well-deserved “Ka-Bam.”

Hopefully, it’s not something #13 abandons going forward. If so, it would further indict the unseriousness of the event and be a lost opportunity, too. When he came into the league, he couldn’t throw a brick into the ocean. Seven years later, his range has expanded to middle and he’s one of the top bigs in that zone. But he could do more.

In the modern NBA, barely any team knows how to cover the 3-point line. Even reputable defenders sag off the best shooters and sometimes a weak outside option is left alone behind the arc. And worse- defenders commit the cardinal sin of fouling 3-point shooters, trying to block the attempt as if many are even rejected on the perimeter.

Adebayo should punish defenses when they treat him like Draymond Green from distance. Yes, running the dribble handoff for a teammate in that spot ensures plenty of space and time if the screen is solid. But a teammate curling from the corner or baseline can take an extra second or two. He should start taking at least one triple nightly when the perimeter opens up for him. If he starts burying them, his matchup can’t play safety to trap his teammates. Eventually, an opposing player will send him to the stripe for three.

At Media Day for the 2021-22 campaign, Adebayo brazenly said he would start firing threes and wanted to be a shooter. That season, he missed all six of his deep tries, followed by one of 12 triples in 2022-23. This year, he’s logged one of 11 3-pointers through 45 outings.

Adebayo has frequently worked on outside marksmanship at the end of warmups for about three seasons. Still, he’s hardly found the nerve to attempt them in meaningful game moments, and that’s too bad. There always comes a time- no matter how badly he wants to set up his teammate- that the right move will be to take one himself.

To be clear, he should have the shot in his bag because it moves him closer to being a complete player. Yet, turning into a trigger-happy soft-big is the last thing the Heat needs. The latter would likely prevent him from setting career highs, like this year, in free throw attempts (6.3), and where he will always inflict the most pressure is in the paint.

To my knowledge, there is no incentive in Adebayo’s contract for making threes. But the Heat should consider adding it in his next extension, or coach Erik Spoelstra or anyone of rank could open up their wallets and fork out $1,600 per made triple. Club president Pay Riley used to pay his Knicks that much when taking charges. Despite NBAers being millionaires, monetary gains will still spike their interest.

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The Celtics rolled into Kaseya Center and pulled away from the Heat after tensions flared on Super Bowl Sunday. And of course, the setting was filled with a Playoff atmosphere on prime time TV between two rivals who have faced off in three of the last four Eastern Conference Finals.

(Jimmy Butler didn’t play because of the leave of absence following the death of a family member.)

Kristaps Porziņģis exterminated the Heat’s switches and late contests, scoring 11 in the opening frame. Jayson Tatum and Derrick White got into the lane, scoring multiple times. And Jaylen Brown schooled Jaime Jaquez Jr, losing him with his dribble for a fadeaway, pump-faking him out of the picture for a triple, then logging a putback between two defenders.

For the Heat, Caleb Martin and Jaquez were the only working options. Tyler Herro and Terry Rozier were misfiring, connecting on just one of seven looks. And Bam Adebayo went stretches without demanding the ball.

Through 12 minutes, the Celtics led 26-22.

In the second quarter, Tatum sliced the Heat’s zone through the center for a layup, recorded two pull-up left-wing trifectas and made a jumper over Herro on the baseline. Jrue Holiday contributed two trays. And the rest of Gang Green recorded 45% of attempts.

The Heatles were rolling to start the interval, making three of four baskets, but Josh Richardson hurt his right shoulder trying to strip Tatum in transition. He was done for the day.

Then Martin failed three shots and Adebayo went cold, recording one of five buckets, but he made five freebies. Rozier countered the Celtics, eluding a mismatch (Al Horford) for a midrange shot, and successfully dribbling into the paint, plus scoring on four occasions.

At halftime, the Heat was behind 50-59 and tied on the glass at 25. The hosts also had 22 paint points, two on the break, eight via second chances and three after turnovers. Rozier had 11 points on five 12 attempts. Adebayo scored 11 on 33% of looks. And the rest of the club produced 11 of 31 buckets.

The Celtics recorded 24 in the square, none on the break, seven on extra tries and five after turnovers. Porziņģis dropped 16 points on six of nine makes with eight boards and three dimes. Brown had a dozen on half of his ventures. And Tatum added 14 to the scoring ledger on 60% shooting.

Tatum followed up, splashing two fadeaways, driving left past Martin from the top to the rim for a left-handed layup and bumping Rozier, hitting a floater on the baseline. Holiday swished three left-corner trays. And the rest of the Celtics recorded 43% of attempts.

Herro discharged 10 points -catching and firing on the left wing, pulling up for a head-of-the-key triple, finishing up close against drop coverage and beating Sam Hauser from the top to the cup for a layup. And Adebayo shot over the 2-3 zone in the middle and scored a putback.

Yet, seven minutes into the sequence, Rozier dusted Horford outside, busted into the paint, but was fouled by Tatum, the help defender, and came down awkwardly on his right leg. He was then helped to the locker room and didn’t return. The team’s X (formerly Twitter) account said it was his knee, but coach Erik Spoelstra said during a stoppage in play before the fourth that it was his ankle. The Heat has not cleared this up.

The Heat began the fourth quarter down 79-86. Four minutes in, Brown and Robinson got tangled up, battling for position. While Robinson’s arm was behind Brown, he was forcefully yanked forward. The reckless act for a simple foul could have popped Robinson’s shoulder out of place, ending his season like Kevin Love’s courtesy of Kelly Olynyk in 2015. Perhaps frontier justice would have been discharged if Udonis Haslem was still captain.

The refs checked it out, penalizing Brown with a flagrant one, but it should have got him tossed. Robinson was still upset and exchanged unpleasantries with Brown. From that moment forward, the intensity of the game increased 100 degrees.

Subsequently, Adebayo powered through the baseline for a layup and hit a nine-foot jump shot over Porziņģis. Herro drove left for a deuce, made a 3-pointer in front of Horford in drop coverage and another on the right wing, facing Brown.

But the Celtics got responses from Porziņģis, Tatum and Brown.

With a minute left and the Heat down two points, Haywood Highsmith missed a triple, and Martin foolishly fouled Porziņģis instantly, sending him to the charity line for a pair. Adebayo then missed the next shot at the nail, and the club was now 99% buried. With 15 seconds left and down six points, the Heat inbounded to Herro, and instead of popping a triple to keep the team on life support, went inside for a layup.

The Heat lost 106-110. It racked up 50 paint points, eight on the break, 23 via second chances and 15 after turnovers. Herro had 24 points, five rebounds and four assists. Adebayo logged 22 points with 13 rebounds. The bench had 26 points.

The Celtics had 38 paint points, zero on the break, 19 on extra tries and 10 after turnovers. Tatum had 26 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. Porziņģis had 25 on the scoring ledger with nine boards. Brown registered 20 points and nine rebounds. And the bench produced 18 points.

At the postgame presser, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said it was great that his group got into a confrontation. “We don’t go looking for stuff. But you have to man up… I told our guys at halftime, ‘Expect it to be hard.’”

On the Heat side, coach Erik Spoelstra said Richardson and Terry will get MRIs on Monday.

In the locker room, when speaking about the altercation with Brown, Robinson said, “I thought it was a dirty play. That’s how people miss whole seasons.”

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The young and rebuilding Spurs hung around with the Heatles for three quarters but were overmatched in the last.

Early, Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo were the only positives of the offense. The former burned drop coverage and splashed two catch-and-shoot trays. The latter obliterated paint protections, shooting over the 7-foot-4 Victor Wembanyama twice, rim rolling, attacking in transition and hoisting at the nail facing Zach Collins. The rest of the team converted five of 13 baskets.

Defensively, man coverage and the 2-3 zone offered as much resistance as now-suspended commissioner Alex Díaz de la Portilla allegedly showed to bribes. The Spurs dissected the hosts off the dribble, with pick and pop and inside cuts, while providing almost nothing from long range, registering 13 of 23 baskets to start.

Next, the Heat started the second frame, making two buckets in seven minutes. But moves from Terry Rozier, Josh Richardson Adebayo and Herro saved the crew from total disaster on offense.

On the other side, Wembanyama scored thrice in transition but bailed out the Heat, misfiring twice on the baseline. Devin Vassell dusted Duncan Robinson and Richardson from the top to the defense’s heart for two baskets, plus canned a left baseline jumper, using a stagger screen to get open. The other Spurs made 30% of tries.

At halftime, the Heat led 53-51 but were behind on the glass by one. Additionally, the group had 26 paint points, none on the break, two via second chances and eight after turnovers. Herro had 12 points on five of eight looks. Adebayo also logged a dozen on 66.7% shooting.

The Spurs had 30 interior marks, five on the break, five from extra tries and three after turnovers. Wemby accumulated 12 points on five of nine attempts. And Vassell had 11 on the scoring ledger on 41.7% shooting.

In the third frame, Butler blundered four ventures, and Rozier couldn’t connect over Wembanyama or hit deep shots when the ball kicked out. But Adebayo and Herro took over. The big man rim rolled, dunked on the break, and drove through Julian Champagnie for a layup. And Herro, swished a jumper at the nail, discharged two extra triples and dribbled past Blake Wesley from the top to the cup for a layup.

For the Spurs, Wembanyama, who was making 30.1% of 3-point tries before the match, buried two more- one in Adebayo’s eye in the left corner and a pull-up in transition behind Tre Jones’ screen. Vassell supplied eight more points. And Jones tallied two layups, beating Rozier and Caleb Martin from the outside to the rim and produced a trifecta.

Subsequently, the Heat started the fourth quarter ahead 78-77, but Butler kickstarted the flurry to the finish line. The Spurs couldn’t stop him from piercing the paint and setting up his teammates six times. Two of Jaime Jaquez Jr.’s late scores were helped by Butler and his other four dimes went to Adebayo, Martin, Robinson and Rozier.

Defensively, the Spurs struggled against the zone and provided almost nothing from deep.

The Heat won 116-104. The fourth was the group’s top offensive interval of the evening, recording 12 of 19 attempts. Besides, it accounted for 50 paint points, 10 on the break, six from extra tries and 19 after turnovers for the night.

Herro led the team in points with 24 on 10 of 15 shots. Next was Adebayo with 20, making 71.4% of looks. And Butler had 17 points and 11 rebounds.

The Spurs had 52 points in the square, 15 on the break, 14 via second chances and 13 after turnovers. Vassell and Jones each logged 19 points. And Wembanyama contributed 18 on his scoring ledger on 53.8% shooting and 13 rebounds.

At the postgame presser, coach Erik Spoelstra responded to a question about Adebayo and Herro’ connection saying, “You need firepower in this league to score against the best defenses. They’ve worked intentionally on building that collaboration between the two of them for the last two or three years. Now when they have to anchor some units, they know they have to lean on each other…”

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Prodigy Jaime Jaquez Jr. hit the rookie wall. The long-range attack faltered. And the Heat were carved up by Kawhi Leonard and James Harden, enduring the 12th home loss of the season.

Josh Richardson started in Tyler Herro’s place due to a migraine, and Duncan Robinson was absent in concussion protocol.

Harden intercepted Terry Rozier’s outlet, quickly passing it to Russell Westbrook for a fastbreak dunk and tallied another fast feed to Leonard for a deuce. Yet, the hosts’ defense was mainly sharp, starting in man coverage- Jimmy Butler tagging Leonard and Haywood Highsmith guarding Paul George, but the zone was featured, too. In the frame, the Heat curbed the Clippers to 34.8% shooting and 19 points.

On offense, Bam Adebayo crushed the Clippers’ backline for a putback and took two trips to the line, not missing. And Jimmy Butler pierced the center for a layup and swished a right-corner triple. The rest of the team converted five of 13 tries.

In the second quarter, George was hounded by Highsmith and ineffective shooting from deep against the zone. However, his teammates bailed him out, deciphering the scheme with ball movement, resulting in six of 13 trifectas.

For the Heat, Adebayo registered a pick-and-pop floater and overpowered Terance Mann in the post for a dunk. Butler and Caleb Martin each added five points, but the unit made only 22.2% of attempted 3-pointers.

At halftime, the match was tied at 43. The Heat had 18 paint points, three on the break, four via second chances and 13 after turnovers. Adebayo was in charge with 10 on the scoring ledger, eight rebounds and two dimes. Butler was next with nine points on four of seven tries.

The Clippers scored 16 in the box, four on the break, six on extra tries and 11 after turnovers. Leonard was the high Clipper, tallying 11 points and five rebounds. Norman Powell’s seven followed. And Harden added five points and five assists.

Butler played all of the third quarter but was shut down. Harden and Mann denied him in transition; Harden forced him into an unsuccessful fadeaway on the baseline; And Leonard, as the low man in the zone, rejected his layup when he got by Powell on the right side and contested cleanly, causing a miss when Butler got it back.

Richardson kept the ember lit, canning a long two-pointer on the right side over George, plus making an open left-corner triple and two layups over Leonard.

For the guests, Leonard scored a putback, dunked on the break, swished a triple after a blitz and cracked the zone from the right wing. Harden set up his teammates four more times, plus dropped five points. The other Clippers made four of 11 baskets in the period.

The Heat entered the fourth quarter down 67-69. Butler rested to start the interval, but the group scored 37.5% of its ventures without him. In that stretch, the Clippers kept drawing contact on drives and jump shots, earning the bonus with over eight minutes left. Even this: Harden was fouled on a made 3-pointer.

Butler checked in with over eight minutes left and scored once when the Heat still had time. His other two field goals and free throw came after the club was behind nine points and out of reach. The other Heatles were extinguished for success on nine of 24 attempts.

In crunch time, the Beard splashed consecutive trays, isolating Butler on the left wing and going one-on-one with Rozier on the right side, getting fouled on that one, too.

The Heat lost 95-103, was beat on the glass by three and made 41.8% of shots. Its worst quarter was the last, putting up a 130.8 Defensive Rating and allowing 18 of the Clippers’ 22 hoisted free throws to come then.

On top of that, the Heat had 50 paint points, 15 on the break, six from extra tries and 19 after turnovers. Butler had 21 on the scoring ledger on 42% shooting.

Adebayo contributed 14 points and 13 rebounds. And the bench was outscored 24-31.

The Clippers registered 44.2% of attempts, with 30 paint points, six in the open court, eight on additional opportunities and 13 after turnovers.

Leonard had 25 points with 11 rebounds. Harden supplied 21 points, 11 dimes and eight boards.

At the postgame presser, coach Erik Spoelstra said, “The game really turned in the fourth quarter when we started fouling… We were just never able to really claw back into it. At that point, once we got down 10 [points], we would have needed to knock down some threes, get some relief baskets from there, but we weren’t able to do that. That was pretty much the story in the fourth [quarter].”

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