Jayson Tatum threw in a game high 33 points to help Boston Celtics expand his winning line to six matches by beating Miami Heat 103-85 on Monday evening.
Tatum, who missed his first five shots, got 20 points in the third quarter. He was 13 out of 26 from the floor and also collected eight returns.
Al Horford added 16 points and 10 returns for Boston, who received 17 points and nine returns from Kristaps Porzingis, 15 points from Sam Hauser and 13 points from Derrick White.
Bam Adebayo led the heat with 22 points and 12 returns. Alec Burks (13 points), Andrew Wiggins (11) and Nikola Jovic (10) were the other Miami players in double numbers.
Boston dragged 11 early before improving his refusal to 22-6.
Celtics played without Jaylen Brown (knee) and Jrue Holiday (Axel). Miami missed Jaime Jaquez and Tyler Herro (both with illness).
Boston missed 14 of his first 15 3-point attempts, but finished 17 out of 53 behind the 3-point bow. Miami was 11 out of 45 on 3-point attempts.
Celtics was 2 out of 18 from 3-point intervals in the opening 12 minutes and beat 24-18 after a block, but they used an 18-0 driving to take a lead 31-24 in the other. Miami was speechless for a distance of 6:38 that extended over the first two quarters before Jovic made a 3-pointer with 8:35 left before half time.
Boston surpassed Miami 34-19 in the second and led 52-43 in half. The heat shot 31.2 percent from the field during the first half.
Celtics led by 20 after Tatum made a free throw with 30.2 seconds left in the third and had an 88-65 advantage on the way into the fourth. Boston led by as many as 24 during the last quarter.
Celtics improved to 2-0 against the heat this season. Boston prevailed 108-89 at home on December 2.
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