It’s on to the playoffs as Heat push past Celtics 129-121 with Butler missing second half

The Miami Heat have left the play-in tournament to others.

Instead, on Tuesday night they played their way into the NBA playoffs.

Even with their leading man spending the second half as spectator.

With a 129-121 victory over the Boston Celtics at TD Garden, one the Heat forged even with Jimmy Butler forced out of the second half after being poked in the eye in the second quarter, the Heat assured themselves of no worse than the No. 6 playoff seed in the Eastern Conference.

“It does mean something. We don’t want to just act like it’s nothing,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of clinching the playoff berth. “It’s not everything. It’s not ultimately what we want, but I think our group has approached everything that has been thrown at us with the right mindset.”

The potential first-round opponent likely will come from the grouping of the New York Knicks, Atlanta Hawks, Milwaukee Bucks or Brooklyn Nets, as the Heat attempt to defend their 2020 Eastern Conference championship.

The playoffs begin May 22, with the Heat now guaranteed at least five days off after their Sunday season finale against the Detroit Pistons.

“That team, whole, nobody is going to want to play,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said of the Heat.

With their 10th victory in their last 13 games, the Heat no longer are at risk of falling into the play-in round for seeds Nos. 7-10.

“And so it’s the first box that we wanted to check,” Spoelstra said.

With Butler’s vision proving too blurry to return after halftime, Bam Adebayo, Duncan Robinson, Tyler Herro and Goran Dragic turned into Heat leading men.

Adebayo finished with 22 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Herro closed with 24 points and 11 rebounds. From Robinson, there were 22 points built on 5-of-9 3-point shooting. And from Dragic, there were key late 3-pointers in his 17-point outing. The Heat also got 18 points from Kendrick Nunn, who helped close it out with late free throws.

“We went out and we got the W,” Adebayo said. “We handled business tonight.”

The Celtics got 36 points from Kemba Walker, 33 from Jayson Tatum and 20 from Evan Fournier.

Five Degrees of Heat from Tuesday’s game:

1. Closing time: The Heat went into the fourth quarter up 93-79, after closing the third period on a 17-6 run.

Dragic then stepped up with a pair of 3-pointers to move the Heat to a 17-point lead with 10:30 to play.

The lead then stretched to 21, before Boston moved back within 10 with 3:44 to play, with a Dragic 3-pointer again settling the Heat, who held on from there.

Dragic scored 14 fourth-quarter points.

“We’re at our best when we have a lot of guys in rhythm, with confidence, helping each other, generating good looks,” Spoelstra said.

2. An eyeful: Butler went down with 42.3 seconds left in the first half after taking a blow to a head from with Celtics guard Marcus Smart in a rebound scrum.

The Heat then called timed, with Butler remaining in the game.

The moment was particularly concerning because of NBA concussion protocols that can end a player’s night or even week.

It turned out to be a poke in the eye, which limited Butler’s vision.

The Heat then opened the second half with Herro in place of Butler, who wound up limited to 17:21 of action, closing 4 of 8 from the field, with three assists.

“He was warming up with a ball in the locker room to start the fourth quarter, gearing up, getting ready to play,” Spoelstra said. “But I thought it was really good for our team to go finish the game.”

Spoelstra said he did not expect Butler to be placed in the NBA concussion protocol.

“Not that I know of,” he said, “but I’ll find out.”

3. Adebayo time: With Butler out, the Heat moved their offensive focus to Adebayo, who dominated his battle with Celtics center Tristan Thompson, closing 10 of 15 from the field.

“Bam really anchored it in a lot of ways the Jimmy normally does,” Spoelstra said. “The ball was going through him, to start whatever action we were going to. And then other guys stepped up.”

Adebayo’s fifth basket eclipsed his previous season high of 400, set last season. He extended his career-best streak to 54 consecutive games scoring in double figures.

“He’s really good at kind of picking his spots, and also knowing when it’s time for him to be who he is, be an All-Star, dominate the game offensively,” Robinson said. “And I think you saw that tonight.”

4. Robinson’s roll: With Butler out and the Heat looking for offense, Robinson stepped up with his offense, with 13 points in the third quarter.

“We rely on Jimmy to do a lot,” Robinson said. “At the beginning it felt like a boost, us rally around him, understanding that he wanted to do and couldn’t. So, for us, it was how can we pick up our brother who can’t play? So we were just going to find a way.”

While there again was plenty over-the-top scoring from Robinson, he also managed to work his way to the foul line after the Celtics put the Heat into the bonus early in the third period, shooting 5 of 6 on free throws in the third.

“We’re just going to keep pushing,” Robinson said.

5. Herro ball: With Dragic scoreless in the first half, missing his lone shot, Herro stepped in with 15 first half points.

Herro closed 10 of 15 from the field, 4 of 7 on 3-pointers.

All the while, Herro also bolstered the Heat on the boards.

“I’ve been just trying to get back to that myself,” he said of his rebounding. “I feel like I’m a good rebounder for me size and my position.”