In a rematch of the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals on Friday night, Derrick White scored 14 of his team-high 28 points in the fourth quarter as the Boston Celtics defeated the Miami Heat 119-111 in the home opener at TD Garden in Boston.
Miami took the biggest lead of the night in the first quarter after the teams went back and forth early. The Heat used a 19-5 run to take a 26-13 advantage. Boston answered that with a 12-2 spurt of their own to slice it to 28-25. The Celtics took the lead back for the first time since early in the opening quarter on a dunk by Jaylen Brown with 2:51 left in the first half. They built that advantage to six, and took a 60-55 lead to the break. Miami (1-1) fought back to take over the lead again 79-76 on a three-pointer by Kyle Lowry with 5:39 left in the third quarter, and would take a one point edge into the final period. The fourth was the Derrick White show. His three-pointer gave his team the lead for good 91-90 with still 10:55 left to play, one of three he made from long distance over the final 12 minutes. The Heat, after trailing by as many as eight, would cut the deficit to just three at 114-111 on a three-pointer by Kevin Love with just under a minute to go. The Celts put it away when White made two free throws, and then after a Tyler Herro three-point miss, Brown would dial one up from long distance with 18 seconds remaining to ice it.
White shot 9-15 from the field (5-7 three-pointers), adding six rebounds, three assists, a steal, and three blocks for 2-0 Boston. All five starters finished in double figures, as Brown had 27, Jayson Tatum 22, while Kristaps Porzingis along with Jrue Holiday had 17 points a piece. Holiday had a double double by contributing 10 rebounds. Herro led Miami in the loss with 28 points (5-12 three-pointers), and Bam Adebayo had 27 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks. The Celtics return to action on Monday night when they hit the road to take on Washington at 7 p.m.
Story by Chris Lessner
