Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown each scored 22 points, as the Boston Celtics beat the Miami Heat 104-84 on Saturday night to a take a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.
Tatum added 10 rebounds and six assists for the Celtics, who led Game 3 wire-to-wire and reclaimed the home-court edge that they lost when Miami won Game 2 in Boston.
Kristaps Porzingis had 18 points and Derrick White scored 16 for the Celtics, who used runs of 12-3, 11-0 and 20-8 in the first half to take full control.
Bam Adebayo scored 20 points for Miami, which remains without starters Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier because of injuries.
Nikola Jovic and Tyler Herro each scored 15 for the Heat, who got 12 from Jaime Jaquez Jr.
It was a season low in points scored for Miami, a season low in points allowed for Boston.
Boston is now 15-4 in the game immediately following a loss this season, its average victory margin in those games 12.2 points.
It was Miami’s lowest-scoring first quarter in its last 197 games, dating back to the 2022 playoffs — also against Boston, when the Heat managed 11 points in the opening 12 minutes of Game 4 of that East finals series.
Boston never trailed in Game 1, a 114-94 win, and never trailed in Game 3 either, on its way to beating Miami for the fifth time in six meetings this season.
