Online Reporter
JAYLEN Brown led all scorers with 29 points and also had seven rebounds as the Boston Celtics beat the visiting Miami Heat 108-89 on Monday night.
Payton Pritchard added 25 points while hitting five 3-pointers for the Celtics, who received 19 points, eight assists and six rebounds from Derrick White and 18 points and 11 boards from Jayson Tatum. Boston’s Luke Kornet blocked six shots.
The Celtics have won five games in a row at home.
Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr. each tossed in 19 points for Miami, which shot 35.6 percent from the field (31 of 87). Jaquez also had 10 rebounds. Miami was 8-for-35 from 3-point territory.
The Heat played without Jimmy Butler, who sustained a knee injury in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 119-116 loss to the Toronto Raptors. Before Monday’s game, Miami coach Erik Spoelstra called Butler day-to-day. Butler is averaging 18.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game this season.
Boston was missing Jrue Holiday (knee), Al Horford (toe), Kristaps Porzingis (injury management) and Sam Hauser (personal reasons).
Miami scored the game’s first seven points, but a 17-2 run gave the Celtics a 17-9 lead following a Tatum 3-pointer with 5:44 to play in the opening quarter. Boston had a 28-25 advantage after 12 minutes of action.
Boston had its first double-digit lead after a Brown 3-pointer made it 39-29 with 8:42 remaining in the second quarter, and the Celtics led by 17, 60-43, when Drew Peterson connected on a 3-pointer with 1:26 left in the first half. The Celtics led 60-45 at halftime.
Miami shot 33.3 percent from the field in the first two quarters (16 of 48).
Boston extended its lead to 78-57 on a Brown triple with 3:05 left in the third quarter and had an 85-63 edge when Pritchard made a layup as the buzzer sounded to end the frame. Boston’s lead peaked at 27 in the fourth -Field Level Media. — Reuters.
daniel chigunwe
