Miami Heat Strike First Against Celtics in East Finals Behind Butler Masterclass | nba

Jimmy Butler scored 35 points, including 20 after halftime, and the Miami Heat rallied in the second half to beat the boston celtics 123-116 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals on Wednesday night.

Miami trailed by nine at the half before turning it around with a franchise playoff-record 46 points in the third and outscoring Boston 66-50 in the final two quarters. It was Butler’s fifth game with 30 or more points this postseason, and he had seven assists, six steals and five rebounds.

“One of the top two-way basketball players in this association. … That’s what we needed.” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Down the stretch, Jimmy was able to do everything we needed to, as a scorer and as a facilitator.”

Bam Adebayo added 20 points and eight rebounds. Kyle Lowry, Caleb Martin and Gabe Vincent and Max Strus each added 15 points. The Heat went 16 of 31 from three-point range.

The No. 8-seeded Heat have opened all three playoff series with road wins. Game 2 is Friday in Boston.

Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 30 points, but didn’t shoot in the fourth quarter. Jaylen Brown finished with 22 points and nine rebounds. Malcolm Brogdon added 19 points.

The Celtics, who are at their best when defending and shooting more than their opponents, were 10-of-29 from beyond the arc.

“We lost our offensive purpose,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said.

Wednesday’s series opener marked the third time in four seasons that the Heat and Celtics have met in the conference finals. Boston won last year’s matchup in seven games.

Wednesday’s opener felt like a continuation of that most recent meeting. Boston dominated on the inside from the start and led by nine at halftime.

Spoelstra said his team was “more intentional” during the last 24 minutes.

Miami took a page from the Celtics’ book and used a 13-1 run to quickly erase that gap and then moved back in front in the third quarter as Butler penetrated to create chances for his teammates.

The Heat outscored the Celtics 46-25 in the period and took a 103-91 lead in the fourth, drawing some boos from the TD Garden crowd.

Boston responded, scoring the first seven points of the final period before Vincent’s 3-pointer ended the streak.

Miami led 114-109 with just over three minutes to go when Brogdon was fouled by Butler. But he hit just 1 of the 2 free throws. Butler got caught on Miami’s next possession before finding Martin for a corner three.

Tatum traveled, handing the ball back to the Heat. A Miami miss put the ball back to Boston, but Tatum was called out again for traveling.

Miami sped up the shot clock before receiving a 3-pointer from Butler to enter with 1:03 remaining.

The Celtics let Butler loose early and he made them pay with 12 points in the first quarter.

Boston’s defense stiffened in the second, and Butler did not fire again until the 5:45 mark, an airball that resulted in a shot clock violation. His second attempt of the fourth a few minutes later had the same result. He went into the intermission with 15 points.

Meanwhile, the Celtics attacked the rim, outscoring the Heat 40-16 in the paint in the first 24 minutes, the most allowed by Miami in a half this season. Boston also held an 11-2 advantage in second chance points.