Jayson Tatum achieved his first-ever playoff triple-double, scoring 23 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, and dishing out 10 assists as the Boston Celtics defeated the Miami Heat 114-94 in the opening game of their first-round playoff series on Sunday.
Derrick White contributed 20 points and four assists for Boston, with a total of six players scoring in double digits.
Miami had dashed Boston’s hopes of reaching the NBA finals last season, taking a commanding 3-0 lead in the conference finals and then winning convincingly in Game 7 in Boston.
However, Boston drew inspiration from the supportive TD Garden crowd, hitting 22 three-pointers and outscoring the Heat 31-14 in the third quarter.
The Celtics’ lead extended to as much as 34 points in the fourth quarter. Although Miami made a late surge to reduce the deficit to 14, Boston managed to hold on for the win.
Including the regular season, Boston boasts an impressive 38-4 home record and has now won its last four encounters with the Heat.
Bam Adebayo led Miami with 24 points, but the team was missing star player Jimmy Butler for the second consecutive game due to a right knee injury sustained during the play-in round. Terry Rozier also remained sidelined with a neck injury. Delon Wright contributed 17 points, while Jaime Jaquez Jr. finished with 16 points.
