BOSTON — Observations and other notes of interest from Friday night’s 129-116 loss to the Boston Celtics:

– Yes, a loss.

– But not a lost night.

– Not after seeing this Kasparas Jakucionis.

– For real, even in defeat.

– Another first-round find?

– Yes, just one night, but able to do it on both ends in his first NBA start.

– In only his second career rotation action, a night after his first.

– The 3-point shooting? His shots consistently true.

– For this team, that helps. A lot.

– But also the defensive tenacity to stand up to all Celtics’ challenges.

– The Heat’s crowded backcourt rotation just got more crowded.

– In a good way.

– It’s going to be hard, very hard, to not feature the kid.

– Think about the last three drafts: Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel’el Ware, Kasparas Jakucionis. (Jaquez was better than his numbers indicated in this one.)

– There has to be a heck of an incoming Christmas bonus for Adam Simon.

– The draft hits keep on coming, even as the search for wins remains ongoing.

– As for what the Heat were forced to roll out in this one … NBA back-to-backs suck.

– Especially ones that include travel.

– Especially ones that make no sense, with the Heat leaving their Manhattan hotel on Thursday for their Thursday night game in Brooklyn against the Nets, then flying to Boston for Friday night’s against the Celtics, only to return Saturday to New York for Sunday night’s game against the Knicks.

– Does that mean with more commonsense scheduling that Andew Wiggins (back) and Davion Mitchell (ankle) otherwise might have been available in Boston, without the back-to-back, without the travel?

– We’ll get a better read when the Heat turn in their lineup card Sunday in New York.

– But treatment and travel aren’t necessarily an optimal combination.

– And neither is a lack of recovery time, as the NBA packs its schedule to allow for its event scheduling, such as the NBA Cup and the All-Star break.

– And so, a Heat roster that on Friday lacked Wiggins, Mitchell, Tyler Herro, Pelle Larsson and Nikola Jovic, among others.

– Desperation to the degree that a night after getting his first rotation minutes,Jakucionis was in the starting lineup.

– Desperation to a degree that coach Erik Spoelstra, who prefers to protect his rotations, had no choice but to give Jaquez his first start of the season.

– Beyond those two, rounding out the starting lineup were Bam Adebayo, Norman Powell and Kel’el Ware.

– This time it wasn’t Spoelstra making a value judgement of whether Ware should start.

– This time, there was no other choice.

– It was Ware’s second consecutive start.

– And now likely to start going forward, regardless of who else is available.

– He has been that good lately.

– Powell was called for his second foul with 7:56 left in the opening period. Spoelstra tried to send in Dru Smith, but Powell insisted on playing through.

– Smith and Simone Fontecchio eventually were the first two off Spoelstra’s bench.

– Followed by … Myron Gardner.

– Wiggins attempted to warm up before the game, before being scratched.

– “I went out there to see what I can do.,” he said. “I don’t think I’m ready to go out there right now.”

– He said he did not know when the back issue developed during Thursday night’s game in Brooklyn.

– “Man, it just happens sometimes. Couldn’t tell you,” he said in the locker room pregame. “Maybe it was when I fell late in the fourth.”

– He then offered words of hope.

– “This is the definition of Miami Heat basketball,” he said. “Whoever you put out there, it’s going to be a game.”

– The Heat entered with their offense having cratered even before the rash of injuries.

– Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla was asked before the game if it was as simple as scouting catching up to a system.

– “That’s a good question,” he said. “I think the stuff that is trends last a decent amount of time. But I think you’re always having to evolve, 10, 15, 20 games in small ways. I still think their offense is good, and they have the ability to play fast, they have the ability to spread you out, those driving gaps that they have.”

– He added, “So sometimes, it’s you may not see the result every game, but the process of how you play is still there. And I think you have that case with their offense. I think their 3-point percentage has gone down a little bit from where it was when they started out. But they’re generating good looks and now that have driving gaps for guys to be able to drive every time down the floor. So it still presents a lot of challenges.”

– Spoelstra before the game addressed the 3-point struggles, which also has included low attempt totals.

– “There’s some different things that factor into that,” he said. “We want our guys shooting with a clear mind and to let it fly. The guys’ hearts are in the right place. Sometimes we turn down some open ones, and then we drive it and sometimes that doesn’t turn into something better. Oftentimes it doesn’t. But we can correct all that.”

– Spoelstra added, “We’ve also been in a stretch where we’ve played some very good defensive teams.”

– Seven of the Heat’s first eight shots were threes.

– And they kept going from there.

– Adebayo is now four games from tying Alonzo Mourning on the Heat’s all-time regular-season games list.

– Powell extended his streak of games scoring in double figures to 26 in a row, dating to last season with the Clippers. His career-best such streak is 35.

– The game concluded the fifth of the Heat’s 15 back-to-back sets this season, entering with a 3-1 record on the second nights of such sets.