Winderman's view: The reality is this also is a mess of the Heat's own creation

– Who continues to deal with a back ailment.

– The only available Heat players not to see action in the opening period were Duncan Robinson, Orlando Robinson and Thomas Bryant.

– Duncan Robinson then checked in for the first time with 6:49 to play in the second period.

– Seemingly significantly limited in his minutes.

– Robinson entered with 143 playoff 3-pointers, the only undrafted players with more were former Knicks guard John Starks (176) and former Heat forward Bruce Bowen (168).

– Spoelstra was asked pregame about the need for a fast start.

– “It would be ideal,” he said. “Setting the tone for the game already helps. It just gets the tenor in the right direction for everybody, the feel, all of that.”

– But he added, “Whatever happens, we have to handle it and put ourselves in a better position to win.”

– The Heat then fell behind by 15 in the opening period.

– Spoelstra said pregame what it couldn’t be about was only about the start.

– “This is competition. It’s the playoffs,” he said. “It’s not always going to go how you want it to go, but you still can find a way to win.”

– Spoelstra said the challenge of the top-seeded Celtics has been as expected.

– “And this is what we all want,” he said. “We want to be tested, we want to be challenged and the idea of a playoff series is they can bring a high level out of our entire group, the competitive nature and the high quality of competition.”

– Herro extended his streak of games with at least one 3-pointer to 38, dating to the regular season. Herro’s longest such streak is 53 combined regular-season and playoff games, a run that ended March 2, 2021.

– Among those courtside pregame were Goran Dragic and Cody Martin, twin brother of Heat forward Caleb Martin.

– As well as Messi, Suárez, Alba and Busquets.

– And Chris Tucker.