Jaylen Brown scored 29 points and Payton Pritchard finished with 24 as the Boston Celtics overcame a 22-point deficit to defeat the visiting Miami Heat 98-96 Friday night.
Miami had possession with a chance to tie or win the game, but Davion Mitchell missed a 3-point attempt from the corner with 2.7 seconds left. Miami knocked the ball out of bounds on the rebound attempt, allowing the Celtics to run out the clock.
Nikola Vucevic had 11 points and 12 rebounds in his first game with Boston after being acquired in a trade with Chicago earlier in the week. Derrick White added 21 points for the Celtics, including a 3-pointer that put Boston in front 98-96 with 1:31 to play.
The victory extended Boston’s winning streak to five games.
Andrew Wiggins led Miami with 26 points. The Heat received a 24-point performance from Norman Powell, who missed Miami’s last three games for personal reasons.
Miami’s Pelle Larsson left the game with 5:01 left in the second quarter with a right elbow contusion and did not return.
The Heat scored the game’s first nine points and led by as many as 19 points in the opening quarter. The Celtics were 6-of-24 from the field, including 1-of-10 from 3-point territory, in the quarter and trailed 29-15 after 12 minutes.
Miami had its largest lead of the game after a Powell basket made it 56-34 with 1:50 remaining in the second quarter, and the Heat held a 59-38 halftime lead. Boston missed 19 of its 20 3-point attempts in the first half.
Boston erased its 21-point halftime deficit by outscoring Miami 36-15 in the third, which left the teams tied at 74 entering the final quarter. The Celtics took their first lead when White broke a 72-72 tie by making two free throws with 9.1 seconds left in the third.
