Derrick White made 9 of 14 3-point attempts and scored a game-high 33 points while leading the Boston Celtics to a 129-116 home victory over the short-handed Miami Heat on Friday night.
It was a back-and-forth game through three quarters, but Boston outscored Miami 37-27 in the fourth. The Celtics made 10 3-pointers in the final period, sinking each of their first six attempts from behind the arc.
Jaylen Brown added 30 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for Boston, which ended a two-game losing streak. Boston received a 15-point performance from Sam Hauser, who made 5 of 6 3-point attempts.
Kel’el Ware led the Heat with 24 points and 14 rebounds. Bam Adebayo finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Norman Powell scored 18 points, and Kasparas Jakucionis added 17.
Miami lost for the sixth time in seven games.
The Heat played without five injured players: Tyler Herro (toe), Davion Mitchell (ankle), Andrew Wiggins (back), Nikola Jovic (elbow) and Pelle Larsson (ankle). Herro, who is the team’s No. 2 scorer (23.2 ppg), missed his third straight game.
The Celtics were up 30-29 after one quarter, but Miami took a 51-43 lead on a Powell layup with 4:43 remaining in the first half. Boston responded with a 10-2 run capped by a White 3-pointer that tied the game with 2:28 left in the half. It was 58-58 at halftime.
White scored 19 points in the first two quarters, sinking 5 of 9 3-point attempts.
Miami had a 80-73 advantage after Jakucionis made a 3-pointer with 5:51 left in the third, but Boston answered with an 8-0 run and took an 81-80 lead on a trey from Anfernee Simons. The Celtics led 92-89 entering the final 12 minutes.
Another Simons 3-pointer gave Boston a 104-94 lead with 9:40 to play, and a Hauser triple extended the lead to 110-96 with 8:40 left. Boston’s lead peaked at 19 points in the fourth.
