BOSTON — Observations and other notes of interest from Friday night’s 98-96 loss to the Boston Celtics:

– So no veteran addition for the Heat and therefore a move toward youth while practically locked into the play-in round?

– Not exactly.

– Actually not even close, as Heat coach Erik Spoelstra made abundantly clear in his pregame media session, before a massive Heat lead again turned into something less.

– “We’re not going to prioritize something over winning,” he said, steadfast, as the Heat began the final 30-game run of their regular season. “Winning is going to be the bottom line. Take it or leave it, like it or not, that’s what the Miami Heat is about. We’re competing to win.”

– Trading deadline or no trading deadline, main thing still main thing.

– With 2025 first-round pick Kasparas Jakucionis then spending the night watching from the bench.

– “You have to earn your minutes,” Spoelstra said of his rotation approach. “We’re not gifting minutes to anyone. We have more young players playing in the rotation than we’ve had in a long time, and that’s this balance that I’m embracing.”

– So also no Nikola Jovic until midway through the third period..

– But still veterans such as Andrew Wiggins, Dru Smith and Simone Fontecchio.

– So, yes, development.

– But the Heat way.

– “Develop these players, infuse them with confidence, but also hold them accountable to our standard,” Spoelstra continued of what he still considers a workable approach. “The standard is not going to change, and we feel that players improve the quickest when there’s an accountability to winning, when they’re not just empty minutes that are being gifted to someone.”

– Spoelstra said there is an intersection of being demanding of youth while also forgiving of youth.

– “It’s art, not necessarily science,” he said of the approach. ” But our young guys are getting a lot better. And they’re playing and contributing. And it’s exciting.”

– So, yes, youth will be served.

– On Heat terms.

– “You know, we want our fan base excited about this young group,” Spoelstra said. “And we want our team excited about the youthful exuberance that they’re bringing our locker room. And there’s a big upside”

– With Norman Powell back after a three-game absence for the birth of his daughter, the Heat returned to a lineup of Wiggins, Bam Adebayo, Pelle Larsson, Davion Mitchell and Powell.

– The lineup entered 3-2.

– It was the 100th career regular-season appearance for Larsson.

– Along the way, Powell reached 1,000 points on the season.

– Jaime Jaquez Jr. was first off the Heat bench.

– Smith followed.

– Fontecchio and Kel’el Ware then followed together.

– Then, with Larsson out, Myron Gardner made his first appearance of the night early in the third period.

– From there, Nikola Jovic saw his first action of the night when he entered midway through the third quarter.

– The game was the Celtics debut of Nikola Vucevic, who was acquired from the Bulls at the trade deadline, making it the fourth time in eight days that a Vucevic team played the Heat.

– “To have an opportunity to play in the playoffs and play for something big, it’s extra motivation,” Vucevic said.

– Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla on the addition of Vucevic, “I think it’s just we’re adding depth. We’re adding flexibility. We’re adding versatility. We’re adding opportunity.”:

– The Heat went in stressing greater road success.

– “We’d like to play more consistently on the road,” Spoelstra said. “We’re still four games under on the road. This is a tough place to win.”

– Spoelstra said the road inconsistency transcends player absences.

– “We’ve had some guys miss games, but a bigger thing has been just our consistency,” Spoelstra said, “to be able to do our best level more consistently on the road versus quality teams.”

– He added, “Even with the things that have happened to us, we’ve shown that that ceiling can be very high. If we defend at a high level on any given night we can blow the doors off offensively but we have to do it a lot more consistently.”

– Wiggins agreed.

– “We have to be better on a more consistent level and I think it will bring us there,” he said.