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Key Moment
Boston came out hot during the first half of Monday’s matchup with the Heat and pulled ahead by 15 points during the first quarter.
The Celtics also came out of the gates hot to start the second half, and this time they pulled away by 17 points to pull away from Miami and take control of the game.
The momentum began building from beyond the 3-point arc, where Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown each canned a shot during the first 67 seconds of the third quarter. After Robert Williams slammed home a dunk off a pass from Tatum, Marcus Smart got into the 3-point party by canning one of his own.
All four of those buckets were rained during the first two minutes and nine seconds of the quarter, helping the Celtics to pull ahead by 15, at 62-47. By the 8:38 mark of the frame, Boston had upped that lead to 17 points, and it never looked back from there.
The Celtics continued to dominate and drain triples the rest of the night. They wound up canning a total of 16 shots from long range on the night and pulled ahead by as many as 32 points before closing out a 122-92 victory.
Key Player
The combination of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum was dominant yet again Monday night against Miami, and Brown was just a smidge more impressive during his 32 minutes of action.
Brown led the game in scoring by dropping 29 points on the Heat on an efficient 11-for-19 shooting effort from the field. He canned eight of his 10 shots from inside the arc, three of his nine 3-pointers, and all four of his free throws.
This performance marked Brown’s 13th effort of at least 21 points during the month of January, and it upped his scoring average on the month to 26.1 points per game.
Brown rounded out Monday’s box score with four rebounds and two assists, and he tied for the team high in steals with two.
Box Score Nuggets
- Six Celtics scored in double-figures, led by 29 from Jaylen Brown.
- Boston led from start to finish and pulled ahead by as many as 32 points during the game.
- Jayson Tatum led the game in rebounds with 12. No other player grabbed more than nine.
- Tatum also scored 20 points.
- Marcus Smart scored 16 points and led the team with seven assists.
- Al Horford and Robert Williams led the game in blocked shots with two apiece. They each individually tied Miami's team total for blocked shots.
- Josh Richardson (11 points) and Grant Williams (10 points) each scored in double-figures off of Boston's bench.
- Tyler Herro led all reserves with 13 points.
- Al Horford neared a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds.
- Gabe Vincent led the game with nine assists.
- Boston limited Miami to just 26 points in the paint.
- The Celtics made eight more free throws (18) than Miami attempted (10).
Quote of the Night
Ime Udoka on Boston's red-hot offense