Behind fourth-year wing Jaylen Brown’s season-high of 31 points, the Boston Celtics snapped a three-game Miami Heat win streak with a 112-93 victory.
Aided by All-NBA point guard Kemba Walker’s 28-point, 7 rebound performance and swingman Jayson Tatum’s 19 points and 5 boards, Boston pulled away in the second half after a close first two frames and never looked back.
Despite another season-high from opponent Jimmy Butler, who logged 37 points and 6 boards on the evening, Miami dropped the contest even though they led by as many as 11 in the first half.
Only former Celtic center Kelly Olynyk, forward Duncan Robinson, and Justice Winslow managed to get in double-figure scoring for the Heat with 12, 10 and 10 points each, respectively.
A major factor in the win was the due to the fact the Celtics managed to get to the charity stripe 32 times to Miami’s 17, the latter converting on just 64.7 % compared to Boston’s 81.4 %. Brown shooting 10-of-20 from the floor and 55.5 % from deep certainly didn’t hurt, either.
Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra was a notable scratch for the contest, missing the game to be present for the birth of a child, with assistant coach Dan Craig taking the helm for the night.
Boston’s defensive specialist, guard Marcus Smart, also missed the contest, recuperating from a blow to his obliques and an undisclosed illness.
The Celtics next face the Denver Nuggets at home on Friday, Dec. 6 at 8pm ET.
