Celtics punch first, come away with a 109-101 win on the road

The Boston Celtics hit the Miami Heat first, and came away with the win on the road with big nights from forward Gordon Hayward and wing Jaylen Brown.

The Boston Celtics tried a novel strategy to start their matchup against the Miami Heat Tuesday night.

They punched first.

They sprinkled in ball movement. They communicated on defense. They kept the energy level up through nearly the entire game.

In short, they played like the team we’ve seen glimpses of against top-tier talent, and coming from behind Miami in the standings perhaps engendered a bit more interest in attacking.

Whatever the cause, it worked for the Celtics as they came away with a much-needed win from a Heat team that was never really out of the game until the final seconds.

Boston was led by forward Gordon Hayward with a 29-point, 9-assist night, with a strong performance by shooting guard Jaylen Brown as well, who logged a 25-point, 5 assist performance against the Heat.

 

All five Celtics starters logged double figures, and center Daniel Theis put up a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards.

Miami had a throwback performance from point guard Goran Dragic, who recorded 23 points off the bench, and forward Jimmy Butler had 20 points and 6 rebounds.

Forward Bam Adebayo also had a strong outing with 16 points and 10 boards.

The Boston Celtics next face the Golden State Warriors at TD Garden at 8pm ET on Thursday, Jan. 30.

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