The Celtics made history in their 147-129 blowout victory over the Miami Heat Wednesday night at the Kaseya Center.
Jaylen Brown finished with 43 points (his seventh 40-point game this season) on 17-of-29 from the field, including 4-of-10 from deep, to go along with seven assists, while Jayson Tatum -- who returned from a one-game absence -- recorded his first triple-double since his torn Achilles injury with 25 points, 18 rebounds and 11 assists in a season-high 37 minutes of action.
"We try to just keep it simple, right?" Tatum told reporters on beating the Heat. "It's two on the ball, pass it. You're open, shoot it or drive it. Somebody else is open, pass it to them. Get back on transition. You try to keep it simple."
Sam Hauser added 23 points on 5-of-7 from beyond the 3-point arc, Neemias Queta notched 16 points, 11 rebounds, while Payton Pritchard and Luka Garza led the bench with 14 and 12 points respectively to help the Celtics in a bounce back win and improve to 51-25 to keep a hold of the second seed in the Eastern Conference.
Bam Adebayo (29 points, 10 rebounds) and Davion Mitchell (21 points, seven assists) combined for 10-of-20 from 3-point range, while Tyler Herro (4-of-10 from 3), and Pelle Larsson each scored 18 points apiece and Jaime Jaquez Jr. chipped in 17 points, 10 rebounds off the bench for the Heat -- who fell to 40-37 on the season and are currently the 10th seed in the East.
Boston began the night by hitting 11 of their first 13 attempts from the field, before turning a one-point deficit into a 24-3 run in a four-minute span to finish the opening quarter and score a franchise record 53 points -- which also tied an NBA record for the second highest first quarter total.
With a 20-point margin to start the second period, the Celtics kept the foot on the gas and took an 80-57 advantage into the break, as Brown had 24 points (20 in the first quarter) in the first half.
Despite trailing by as many as 27, the Heat knocked down a franchise record 11 3-pointers in the third quarter to cut the deficit down to 10 by outscoring Boston 45-32.
An 11-5 spurt by the C's made it a 16-point game again to start the final frame and were ahead by as much as 21 on their way to a 4-0 season sweep and now 10-1 record against the Heat (including playoffs) over the last two years.
The Celtics, who are 31-0 when scoring at least 117 points this season, will head to Milwaukee to face the Bucks (30-46) Friday night at Fiserv Forum.
Game Notes:
Boston connected on 58% from the field, including 21-of-44 (48%) from 3, while the Heat were 46% from the floor and 24-of-47 (51%) from long distance. The Celtics out-rebounded the home team 48-37 and outscored them in the paint 58-36. The C's also dished out 34 assists on 56 baskets and only nine turnovers while Miami had 27 dimes on 44 made shots and and also turned the ball over nine times.
Joel Pavón
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