MIAMI (AP) — Jaylen Brown scored 43 points, Jayson Tatum had his first triple-double of the season and the Boston Celtics rode the strength of a record-setting first quarter to beat the Miami Heat 147-129 on Wednesday night.
Tatum finished with 25 points, 18 rebounds and 11 assists for Boston, which scored 53 points in the first quarter — a franchise record that tied the second-highest total for an opening quarter in NBA history. Sam Hauser added 23 for the Celtics, who are 31-0 when scoring at least 117 points this season and are 10-1 in their last 11 games following a loss.
The Celtics led by as many as 27, then saw the lead trimmed to as little as nine early in the fourth quarter. Boston (51-25) holds the No. 2 spot in the Eastern Conference race, four games behind No. 1 Detroit.
Bam Adebayo had 29 points and 10 rebounds for Miami, which tied a franchise record by hitting 24 3-pointers. The Heat made 24 on three other occasions.
Davion Mitchell scored 21, while Tyler Herro and Pelle Larsson each scored 18 and Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 17 for the Heat (40-37).
Miami remained in the No. 10 spot in the East play-in race. The Heat are a half-game behind No. 8 Orlando and No. 9 Charlotte, teams both with 40-36 records.
The Celtics made 11 of their first 13 shots on the way to the sizzling start, then closed the first quarter on a 24-3 run that turned a one-point deficit into a 20-point lead — and that burst came in just over four minutes.
Boston’s lead was 80-57 at halftime and the Celtics scored the first four points of the second half to push the margin to 27.
Up next
Celtics: Visit Milwaukee on Friday.
Heat: Host Washington on Saturday.
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