Thomas Scores 25, Celtics Get Past Heat 112-104
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MIAMI (AP) — Isaiah Thomas scored 25 points and handed out eight assists, Avery Bradley added 18 points and the Boston Celtics beat the Miami Heat 112-104 on Monday night.
Jae Crowder scored 17 points Kelly Olynyk had 14 for Boston, which beat Miami for the fourth consecutive time. The 112 points were the most scored against the Heat this season.
Goran Dragic had 27 points and 17 assists for the Heat, setting season bests in both categories. Hassan Whiteside added 25 points and 17 rebounds, and Josh Richardson scored 12 for the Heat.
Miami went from ice cold in the first half to sizzling in the second, but even that turnaround wasn't enough.
The Heat tied a season low for a quarter with 12 points in the second, going into halftime down 48-31. They established a season best with 42 points in the third, yet Boston maintained a double-digit lead.
Marcus Smart picked up three fouls — a flagrant, a personal and a technical — 51 seconds apart late in the fourth, and that helped Miami get Boston's lead down to nine for the first time since the second quarter.
But the Heat got no closer and fell to 2-7 at home.
TIP-INS
Celtics: Al Horford (newborn child) missed the game but is expected to practice Tuesday. ... Shortly before tip-off, Thomas posed for a photo with a soldier who was near the Boston bench. ... There was a fairly sizable amount of blood coming from Olynyk's right knee when the first quarter ended. He got it tended to during the between-periods break and started the second quarter.
Heat: Miami missed its first 14 3-pointers, before Richardson finally got one to drop midway through the third quarter. A fan actually made one before any Heat player, connecting — while seated, no less — during a second-quarter timeout and winning a tablet. ... Whiteside has at least one blocked shot in 46 consecutive games.
HEAT INJURIES
Wayne Ellington got his first minutes of the season after missing 16 games with a bruised thigh. Dragic (left elbow) returned from a two-game absence and Willie Reed (right knee) was cleared to return but didn't play. Justise Winslow (left wrist) missed his eighth straight game, while Tyler Johnson (tooth) and Dion Waiters (groin) also were sidelined. Whiteside had an MRI on his sore left knee earlier in the day, and the results did not show any structural issues.
GREEN RETURNS
Gerald Green was back in Miami for the first time since his one-season stint with the Heat ended. He greeted former teammates like Udonis Haslem before the game and said he was happy with his second stint in Boston. "The first time I was there I was the youngest guy on the team. Now I'm the oldest guy on the team," said the 30-year-old Green, who is about 5 months older than Horford.
UP NEXT
Celtics: Host Detroit on Wednesday, the start of a two-game homestand.
Heat: Visit Denver on Wednesday, beginning a three-game trip against Western Conference foes.
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