MIAMI — Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown each scored 22 points and the Boston Celtics cruised to a 104-84 victory over the Miami Heat on Saturday night, 2-1 in the first round of their Eastern Conference playoff series. took the lead.
Tatum added 10 rebounds and six assists for the Celtics, who led wire-to-wire in Game 3 and regained the home court edge they lost in Miami’s Game 2 win in Boston.
The Celtics took full control with runs of 12-3, 11-0, and 20-8 in the first half, with Kristaps Porzingis scoring 18 points and Derrick White scoring 16 points.
Bam Adebayo scored 20 points for eighth-seeded Miami, but starters Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier remain sidelined with injuries.
For the Heat, Nikola Jovic and Tyler Herro each had 15 points and Jaime Jaquez Jr. had 12 points.
Game 4 will be played in Miami on Monday, and the Celtics are 9-2 in their last 11 games and 6-1 in their last seven playoff games.
It was Miami’s lowest point total of the season and Boston’s lowest point count of the season.
Rebounding efforts have been a trend in Boston this season.
The Celtics, the No. 1 overall seed in the playoffs, rarely lose, and even when they do, they tend to move up quickly and win the next game.
This season, Boston is 15-4 in games immediately following a loss, and the average point differential in those games is 12.2 points.
Boston never trailed in Game 1, winning 114-94, and never trailed in Game 3, looking for their fifth win over Miami in six games this season.
The Celtics started slow, Miami started even slower, leading 21-12 every time Boston trailed by, creating an atmosphere that nothing was going to come easy for the Heat.
This was Miami’s lowest scoring first quarter in its last 197 games dating back to the 2022 playoffs. It was also against Boston, where the Heat scored 11 points in the first 12 minutes of Game 4 of the East Finals series.
For a brief moment midway through the second quarter, it looked like Miami had weathered the storm.
The Heat had a slight lead, there was life in the building, and Herro hit a 3-pointer to get the Heat within 10 points.
It came off the edge. The storm could not be overcome. In fact, it was just beginning.
The Celtics outscored Miami 20-8 over the next 4 1/2 minutes to go up 61-36. At this time, quite a few fans decided to head a little early for halftime refreshments.
At halftime, the score was 63-39, with Boston dominating in every way: 19-2 on turnovers, 26-12 on points in the paint, 27-15 on rebounds and 13-6 on assists. .
The lead reached 29 points in the second half, and Miami never got closer than 18 points after halftime.
