Its a new year and the new look Boston Celtics defeated the Miami Heat in tonight's game, sending a message that last year is in the past. Derrick White was the hero in this one with 28 points and 3 big blocks at the defensive end. Jayson Tatum had 22 points while Jaylen Brown had a nice bounce back game with 27 points. The Heat were led by Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo with Jimmy Butler having a rough night. The Heat took a 28-25 lead going into the first quarter but the Celtics took control in the second quarter to take a five point lead at halftime. The third quarter ended almost dead even with the Heat up by 1. The key to the game was White hitting a three to give the Celtics the lead to open the fourth quarter. The Celtics never looked back and made some key stops to win the game 119-111 at TD Garden.
The first quarter began with Jayson Tatum finding Jrue Holiday open for a corner three pointer to open the salvo. Bam Adebayo of the Heat answered at the other end for the first of his 27 points. Tyler Herro made back to back buckets with 9 minutes gone in the first but Derrick White made a big block to prevent an outlet pass from going in. Herro and Adebayo remained red hot to give the Heat a 24-13 lead with 5:30 remaining in the first. Holiday and Jaylen Brown answered with big shots at the other end to help Boston claw back. Down 28-23, Tatum dished to new Celtic Oshae Brissett for a slam to cut the Heat lead 28-25 to end the quarter.
After Thomas Bryant slammed one home to begin the second quarter for the Heat, Payton Pritchard answered with a very long three pointer. Trailing 33-28, Tatum got the next five points to tie the game with 9:28 left in the quarter. Duncan Robinson answered with a three on the other end to give the Heat the lead back. Tatum clawed the Celtics back in the game with another three but the Celtics got a great play with 2:55 left in the second. White dribbled into the lane then passed to Holiday on a cut for the layup to tie the game. Brown stole the inbounds pass and stuffed it to give the Celtics the lead just like that. Up 56-53, White hit a three pointer with 55 seconds left in the half. With the Celtics up 60-55, White rejected Butler at the rim to end the half with the Celtics up by 5.
The ageless Kevin Love hit a three for Miami to open the third quarter although it was the Celtics who bolted out to a 69-62 lead with three minutes gone. Herro came around a pick and buried a triple to cut the lead. With the Celtics up 71-65 Herro hit another three. Porzingis was able to stop the momentum with a putback off a Tatum miss. The Heat went on a run to take an 81-80 lead and Jimmy Butler hit a step back two with 2:11 left. Tatum hit a shot then Pritchard made a big block on the other end to prevent more damage. With the head leading 88-84, Tatum hit a three with 3 seconds left to end the quarter with the Heat up by 1.
Celtics hanging in there
The Heat led 90-88 with one minute gone in the fourth quarter when White buried a three pointer. With the game 93-90, White hit another three with 9:30 remaining. The Celtics led 98-96 with seven minutes remaining when Brown hit a pullup three pointer. With the Celtics ahead 102-98 with 5:12 left, Brown hit a jumper in the paint. Tatum hit a slam dunk on their next possession but got hit with a bogus technical foul for "excessive celebration". A big key to the game was with the Celtics ahead 106-101 with 4:22 left and Holiday stripped Adebayo in the paint. He passed to a wide open White who nailed a three pointer to give the Celtics an 8 point lead. Adebayo blocked a Brown jumper and Butler took off only to be denied at the rim by White with 3:46 left in the game. With the lead down to five, Brown dribbled with his left hand and caught the Heat asleep with a layup with 2:49 left. The Celtics looked to have the game in the bag leading 112-105 with 1:28 left but Herro hit a big three to keep the Heat in it. Holiday responded with a jumper in the lane to put the lead back to six. Love hit a three with 59 seconds left but the Celtics responded with a pair of free throws to make it 116-111. They hit some more free throws and the game ended 119-111 Celtics.
Hero of the Night is Derrick White. His 28 points were a team high and he had a few key blocks as well.
Bawful Report:
Scalabrine Award for DNP-CD - Luke Kornet, Dalano Banton, JD Davison, Lamar Stevens, Jordan Walsh, Svi Mykhailiuk.
End Rant:
This is the second game in a row the Celtics have won a game they most likely wouldn't have last year. When they had the Heat down, they made the plays that mattered to win the game. Holiday had 17 points and 10 rebounds while White led the team with 28. Brown had a nice rebound game with 27 points and the fact they have Holiday and KP at the end of games to relieve the pressure paid dividends again. Heat fans are claiming injuries and "they're not worried" but the bottom line is the Heat are running back almost the same team from last year while the Celtics made huge changes. If Heat fans think they're going to get lucky with injuries to other teams two years in a row they have another thing coming. The Celtics once again didn't go to the bench but to be fair, these two games felt like playoff previews considering both the New York Knicks and the Heat made the second round last year. If Mazzulla wanted to get an early playoff type game atmosphere, he got it. Hopefully the Celtics can avoid key injuries because the starting 5 they have is better than anyone, just need to get some bench help at the deadline. The Celtics now travel to Washington for their first road game of the year. They take on the Wizards on Monday night at 7 PM at Capital One Arena
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