The Miami Heat drew first blood in their Eastern Conference finals series with the Boston Celtics.
Led by another magnificent performance by star guard Jimmy Butler, the Heat defeated the Celtics 123-116 in Game 1 of the best of seven series at TD Garden in Boston.
Butler scored a game high 35 points along with five rebounds, seven assists and six steals. Forward Bam Adebayo had 20 points, eight rebounds and assists. Miami was also on fire from long distance as it made 16 of its 31 attempts from beyond the 3-point line.
The Celtics seemed to have control of the game as they led 71-59 in the third quarter, but the Heat erupted for 46 points in the stanza to take a 103-91 lead.
St. Louisan Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 30 points and seven rebounds on nine of 17 shooting from the field. Tatum scored 18 points in the first half, but the Heat defense stiffened as they held him to only four field goal attempts in the second half.
The series resumes on Friday night with Game 2 in Boston at 7:30 p.m. (St. Louis time). The game will be televised on TNT.
