Gordon Hayward scores 25 points as Boston Celtics beat Miami Heat
Thursday 4 April 2019 07:44, UK
Gordon Hayward scored a game-high 25 points and Kyrie Irving added 23 to lift the Boston Celtics to a crucial 112-102 road victory over the Miami Heat on Wednesday night.
The Celtics' Jayson Tatum scored nine consecutive points in the fourth quarter to help Boston hold ground in the race for home-court advantage in their upcoming four-seed versus five-seed playoff matchup.
Al Horford tallied 21 points, Tatum 16 and Aron Baynes ten, with a team-high ten rebounds for the Celtics, who won their second straight game and fourth in their last five.
Boston (47-32), the fourth-seed in the Eastern Conference, kept pace with Indiana. The Pacers (47-32) also won, defeating the Detroit Pistons 108-89.
Dion Waiters had 21 points, Hassan Whiteside 18 points and 15 rebounds, Dwyane Wade 17 points, Bam Adebayo 12, Goran Dragic 11 and Kelly Olynyk 10 for the Heat, who lost their second straight.
Miami (38-40) slipped to the No 9 seed in the conference behind the Orlando Magic (39-40), who defeated the New York Knicks 114-100.
Last in the league in free-throw shooting, the Heat went just 12-for-20 (60 percent) at the stripe. They entered at 69.5 per cent.
The Celtics shot 47.5 per cent from the field in the first half while the Heat shot just 40 per cent.
The Heat cut into the Celtics' 53-49 half-time lead in the third quarter, trailing just 83-81. However, Josh Richardson tried to block a breakaway layup by Irving, landed awkwardly against the basket's stanchion and did not return due to a left leg injury.
