Heat make statement with 130-124 win in Boston, now need another
One down. One to go.
Because if the Miami Heat can follow up Sunday’s 130-124 victory over the Boston Celtics with another victory Tuesday night back at TD Garden, they then effectively can put the NBA’s play-in round in their rearview mirror.
Making a playoff-race statement when needed most, the Heat went up 26, saw that lead trimmed to six, before holding on for their fifth victory in their last seven games.
In the battle for a top-six seed, which would keep them out of the play-in round, the Heat got decisive late scores from Jimmy Butler to hold on.
Butler led the Heat with 26 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds, supported by 22 points from Duncan Robinson, 20 from Bam Adebayo and 19 from Trevor Ariza.
For the Celtics, there were 30 points from Evan Fournier, 29 from Jayson Tatum, 18 from Kemba Walker and 16 apiece from Marcus Smart and Aaron Nesmith.
The victory moved the Heat two games ahead of the Celtics in the standings and tied the season series 1-1, with the tiebreaker to be determined Tuesday.
Five Degrees of Heat from Sunday’s game:
1. Closing time: The Heat went into the fourth quarter up 21, with Boston moving within 16 and forcing a Heat timeout with 10:28 to play.
Eventually it got down to a 113-107 lead with 4:41 to play, after a Walker layup.
But that’s when Butler stepped up with a 3-pointer for a 116-107 lead.
Back, though, came the Celtics, with a Fournier 3-pointer drawing Boston within 118-112, only to see that matched by Robinson 3-pointer with 2:42 to play, for a 121-112 Heat lead.
The Celtics did not get closer than the final margin from there.
2. Taking stock: It basically was Butler on demand in the third quarter.
So no sooner had the Celtics rallied, then Heat coach Erik Spoelstra called timeout, and Butler, who had taken one shot to that stage, then took the next three.
He closed the third quarter with 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting, helping the Heat take a 15-84 lead into the fourth.
3. Offensive, to the max: The Heat scored 43 points in the second period and 79 in the first half.
Perhaps most remarkable, they accomplished that with Butler with just that one first-half field-goal attempt. In fact, beyond Ariza’s 17, no Heat player had more than 13 over the opening two periods.
The Heat shot .661 from the field in the first half, 11 of 20 on threes.
It was the second-highest-scoring first half in the Heat’s 33 seasons, topped only by the 82 scored in the first half on Feb. 22, 2020 against the Cavaliers. The Heat scored 44 in the second quarter of that game.
4. Been there, seen that: There hardly is anything new about Fournier and Kemba Walker leading opposing rallies against the Heat, as they did in the third quarter.
What is different is in the uniform.
Fournier, a Heat thorn with the Orlando Magic before being dealt to the Celtics at this season’s NBA trading deadline, scored 14 in the Celtics’ third-quarter rally from down 24 at the start of the period to within 12.
Walker, a Heat pest during his time with the Charlotte Hornets before joining the Celtics last season, scored six and was plus-10 in the third.
5. Herro ball: Tyler Herro again provided an energetic boost upon entering, this time with 12 first-half points, on 5-of-6 shooting, converting both his first-half 3-pointers.
Sunday’s performance came in the wake of Friday’s 27-point performance against the Minnesota Timberwolves, which came in the wake of missing the previous six games with a sore right foot.
