Heat one loss away from elimination, as offensive struggles continue in Game 5 loss to Celtics

A playoff series between two of the NBA’s top defenses has produced weird results with just four lead changes despite a 2-2 tie through four games. The pivotal Game 5 turned into the competitive defensive slugfest that many envisioned this series would be ... for one half.

Following a first half that the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics combined for just 79 points on 37.8 percent shooting, the Celtics’ offense came alive and the Heat’s offense didn’t.

The Celtics dominated the second half, cruising to a 93-80 win over the Heat on Wednesday night at FTX Arena to take a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Heat is now on the brink of elimination, just one loss away from having its season ended.

“We are not making excuses for anything,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said when asked how injuries to key players like Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry and Tyler Herro have impacted the series. “We are not deflecting anything. We are not making excuses for it. We lost the game today. We had a tough loss in Boston. We’re still alive.”

The Heat continued to struggle to generate efficient offense against the Celtics’ elite defense, shooting just 31.9 percent from the field and 7 of 45 (15.6 percent) from three-point range in Game 5. Miami is shooting just 40.7 from the field and 29.2 percent on threes in the series.

The difference was the Celtics’ offense was able to find second-half solutions on Wednesday after shooting just 38.2 percent from the field and 4 of 16 (25 percent) on threes in the first half. Boston shot 54.1 percent in the final two quarters to break the game open.

The Celtics won the third quarter 32-16 to take an 11-point lead into the fourth quarter, and then opened the final period on a 14-2 run to pull ahead by 23 and take total control of Game 5.

Celtics stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for 37 points in the second half after totaling just 10 points on 3-of-16 shooting (18.8 percent) from the field in the first half.

The Heat’s leading scorer on Wednesday was center Bam Adebayo, who finished with 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field and 10 rebounds.

But the rest of Miami’s roster struggled to make outside shots as the Celtics continued to have defenders sag into the paint and dare the Heat to beat them with midrange shots and threes. The Heat finished Game 5 just 10 of 52 (19.2 percent) on shots from outside the paint.

“I think those open threes are the shots that we’ve made all year long,” Spoelstra said. “Our guys are ignitable. You just see two or three of those go, all of a sudden, our guys feel like that’s ten in a row and that can turn in a hurry. It didn’t tonight.”

The Heat’s best player, Butler, finished Wednesday’s loss with 13 points on 4-of-18 shooting from the field. He has totaled just 19 points on 7-of-32 (21.9 percent) shooting from the field in the last two games after exiting the second half of Game 3 because of right knee inflammation.

Lowry also looked limited in his third game since returning from a strained left hamstring. Lowry finished Wednesday loss without a point or assist in 25 minutes, as it marked the first game in his NBA career that he has not recorded a point or an assist in while playing more than 15 minutes.

Heat starting wing Max Strus scored just four points in Game 5, all coming from the foul line. Strus shot 0 of 9 from the field and 0 of 7 on threes.

With Lowry and Strus combining to shoot 0 of 15 from the field, it’s the most attempts without a made shot for a starting backcourt in a playoff game since starters began being tracked in the 1970-71 season.

Despite the Heat’s cold shooting throughout Game 5, it actually entered halftime with a five-point lead behind 16 second-chance points and 12 points off 10 Celtics turnovers. But those opportunities dried up in the second half with Miami scoring just eight second-chance points and five points off turnovers in the final two quarters.

With the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year, Herro, missing his second straight game because of a strained left groin, the Heat made a tweak to its bench rotation and played small when Adebayo wasn’t on the court.

The Heat used Victor Oladipo, Gabe Vincent, Caleb Martin and Duncan Robinson as its four reserves in Game 5. Backup center Dewayne Dedmon did not play after logging minutes in each of the first four games of the series, as 6-5 forward P.J. Tucker played as Miami’s center on Wednesday when Adebayo was on the bench.

But it didn’t matter who the Heat played on Wednesday, the offense just wasn’t good enough to win.

Game 6 is scheduled for Friday (8:30 p.m., ESPN) at TD Garden in Boston.

“We’re not making any excuses for any kind of health or anything like that,” Spoelstra said. “We’re just going to figure it out and get on up there to Boston and enjoy that competition.”