BOSTON _ The feel-good story of the second half of the NBA season is feeling a bit shaky at the moment, even with a spirited effort in Sunday's 112-108 loss to the Boston Celtics at TD Garden.
The reality at the moment for the Heat Miami is a 3-4 record in their last seven games and a 1-4 ledger in their last five road games, with two more remaining on this trip.
Even the forgiving standings at the bottom of the Eastern Conference aren't as forgiving lately, with Sunday's road victory by the Chicago Bulls over the Milwaukee Bucks leaving the Heat just a half game ahead of Chicago for the eighth and final playoff berth.
Like Thursday's 101-84 loss to the Toronto Raptors that closed out a 3-2 homestand, the Heat again pushed to an early 15-point lead, this time in the second period.
By halftime, that lead was down to five.
By the midpoint of the third quarter, the Heat were down 10, as they were at the end of the third.
Through it all, the Heat pushed back to a fourth-quarter lead, but couldn't finish, despite 24 points from Tyler Johnson, 20 from James Johnson, 13 from Goran Dragic and 19 points and 15 rebounds from Hassan Whiteside.
Not with Isaiah Thomas scoring 30 for the Celtics, supported by 25 from Jae Crowder.
With the victory, the Celtics, a potential first-round playoff opponent, swept the four-game season series, now having won the last seven games between the teams, as Boston moved into a virtual tie with the Cleveland Cavaliers atop the East.
The Heat remained without guard Dion Waiters, who missed his fourth consecutive game with a sprained left ankle, not on the trip with the team. Josh Richardson again started in his place.
The Celtics were closed to whole, with guard Avery Bradley back in their starting lineup after missing Friday's victory over the Phoenix Suns with a stomach illness that had him hospitalized for two days.
The game opened a three-game trip for the Heat that continues Tuesday against the Detroit Pistons and concludes Wednesday against the New York Knicks.
With Thomas on the bench to start the fourth, the Heat clawed within 91-87 behind the play of Johnson & Johnson, before a Kelly Olynyk 3-pointer extended Boston's lead to seven.
The Heat then closed within 94-92 on a Willie Reed dunk off a James Johnson feed. That also is when Thomas returned for the Celtics, with the Heat forcing a 24-second violation.
Dragic then converted a 3-pointer, bringing the Heat all the way back from their 10-point deficit at the start of the fourth to a 95-94 lead, capping a 13-2 run. But Dragic moments later was called for his fourth foul.
With the Heat in the bonus since early in the fourth, Richardson later converted a pair of free throws for a 97-96 Heat lead and a Tyler Johnson made it 99-97 with 5:15 left.
A driving Tyler Johnson layup with 4:13 to play again put the Heat up two, before a Crowder 3-pointer gave Boston a 102-101 lead with 3:53 left.
After missed 3-point attempts from Tyler Johnson and Dragic, Thomas followed with a pair of free throws for a 104-101 Boston lead with 2:54 to play, with the Heat committing a 24-second violation on the other end with 2:29 left.
A driving reverse layup by Thomas was countered by a James Johnson transition dunk, leaving the Heat down 106-103 with two minutes to play.
This time the Heat forced a 24-second violation with 1:36 left, with James Johnson following with a pair of free throws with 1:23 left.
The Heat then defended the first 22 seconds of the shot clock, with a Thomas driving layup with one minutes to play putting Boston up 108-105.
James Johnson then made only the first of two free throws with 57.4 seconds to play, cutting Boston's lead to 108-106.
James Johnson then was off with a jumper, with a rebounding foul called on Dragic with 20.6 seconds to play.
Marcus Smart then made only the first of two free throws, leaving the Heat down 1209-106 _ until a review resulted in a goaltending call on Whiteside on the foul shot and a 110-106 Boston lead.
Whiteside followed with a pair of free throws with 11.5 seconds left to move the Heat within 110-108.
Forced to foul, the Heat sent Crowder to the line with 8.1 seconds left, where he effectively ended it with a pair of free throws.
With Thomas up to 22 points by the end of the third period, the Celtics went into the fourth up 85-75.
Even with Whiteside up to 17 points and 14 rebounds by then, there was no other source of consistent scoring for the Heat, let alone defense, with Boston at .541 from the field entering the fourth.
Thomas began percolating in the third period, as the Celtics moved to their largest lead to that stage, at 79-73, after his 3-pointer and then driving layup.
The Heat pushed to a 15-point lead in the second period, only to see the Celtics push back with a 12-2 run, with the first half ending with the Heat up 58-53.
Tyler Johnson had 12 points and James Johnson five assists in the first half to help offset an uneven start from Dragic.
Even with Smart making a 3-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer, the Heat went into the second up 27-22. Whiteside had seven points and six rebounds in the opening period.
The Heat were forced to go to their bench early with Dragic called for his second foul with seven minutes left in the first quarter.
