Field Level Media
Jan 10, 2019
Dwyane Wade scored a team-high 19 points off the bench to lead the host Miami Heat to a 115-99 win over the Boston Celtics on Thursday night.
Boston point guard Kyrie Irving led all scorers with 22 points, but the Celtics had their four-game win streak broken. Boston also had its streak of five straight 30-assists-plus games snapped.
Miami had a season-high 33 assists -- 13 more than Boston. The Heat held Boston to 40.4 percent shooting and outrebounded the Celtics 51-37 with a 46-30 edge in paint points.
The Heat, who evened their record at 20-20, had six double-figure scorers, including Josh Richardson, who scored 18 points.
Justise Winslow, Miami's recently converted point guard, added 13 points and a game-high and career-high 11 assists.
The Celtics got 18 points from Marcus Smart and 17 points each from Marcus Morris and Jayson Tatum.
The game was Miami's 400th consecutive home sellout.
Boston, playing on consecutive nights and on the road as opposed to the more rested Heat, didn't show much energy after the first quarter.
In fact, Boston led by as many as four points in a first period that featured five lead changes, but Miami rallied to go up 28-24 by the end of the quarter. Irving had the most points (11) of anyone in the period.
Miami ended the second quarter on a 10-0 run to take a 61-43 lead into halftime. Miami's Derrick Jones Jr., a 6-foot-7 forward known much more for his leaping ability as opposed to his shooting, put an exclamation point on the first half. He drained a 3-pointer from just inside the half-court line, swishing his shot over tight defense by 6-9 Morris.
The Heat shot 53.1 percent in the first half, and Boston shot just 38.8 percent.
The Celtics trailed by as many as 26 points in the third quarter before closing on a 26-11 run. Jones tried another long shot at the end of the quarter -- this one from about 60 feet -- and nearly made it but missed off the backboard and the rim.
Miami carried an 83-72 lead into the fourth quarter, and Boston never seriously threatened.
--Field Level Media