MIAMI — Dwyane Wade scored 19 points, Josh Richardson added 18 and the Miami Heat hit a season-high 18 3-pointers Thursday night on the way to beating the Boston Celtics, 115-99.

Derrick Jones Jr. scored 14 points, and Justise Winslow finished with 13 points and a career-best 11 assists for the Heat. Miami had 33 assists on 45 field goals.

Kyrie Irving had 22 for the Celtics, who scored a season-high 135 points one night earlier in a win over Indiana – and were held under 100 for the fourth time all season, the first time since Nov. 17.

Marcus Smart scored 18, and Jayson Tatum and Marcus Morris each had 17 for the Celtics. Wade had 12 of his 19 in the second half for Miami, which snapped a two-game slide.

The Celtics trailed for a total of 4:04 in their first four games of 2019. They trailed for 4:14 in the first quarter alone Thursday, and that set the tone for the game.

Miami outscored Boston 17-4 in the final 3:07 of the first half and took a 61-43 lead into the break – the largest halftime edge for the Heat since November. And an 11-3 run to start the third quarter pushed the lead to 72-46.

But Boston scored the next 16 points, with Tatum getting six of them – all from the foul line. Wade made a 3-pointer to stop the run, and scored eight points in the final 3:47 of the quarter as the Heat took an 83-72 lead.

notes

LAKERS: LeBron James likely will miss at least three more games after being cleared to increase his on-court activity in his comeback from a groin injury.

CAVALIERS: Forward Larry Nance Jr. could miss a month with a sprained right knee ligament, another blow to the NBA’s worst team.

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