BOSTON — Jimmy Butler scored 24 points, Kyle Lowry added 23 and the Miami Heat rallied in the fourth quarter to hold off the Boston Celtics 106-98 on Wednesday night to stay atop a tight race for the Eastern Conference’s top seed.

Bam Adebayo finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds to help Miami post its second straight win since a season-worst four-game losing streak.

Since briefly taking over the East’s top spot, Boston has lost two in a row for the first time since late January. Miami leads Milwaukee by 1 1/2 games and Boston by two. Philadelphia is tied with the Celtics.

Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 28 points and 10 rebounds. Jayson Tatum added 23 points and six assists.

The back-and-forth game had very much the intensity of a playoff matchup, featuring nine ties and 16 lead changes. Miami led by just a point at the half, but opened an 11-point cushion at the start of the third quarter. The Celtics answered, running off 16 straight points to nudge back in front and eventually carried a 83-79 lead into the fourth.

It grew to 90-85 with 7:40 remaining when Daniel Theis tipped in a lob from Derrick White through contact from Dewayne Dedmon, who fouled out on the play. The Heat stayed composed and responded with 12-3 spurt to take a 98-93 lead on a short jumper by Butler.

Boston cut it 98-96 with less than three minutes left, but came up empty on three straight possessions.

Lowry broke the stalemate with a jumper. Brown then had his shot blocked on the the Celtics’ next trip, and Lowry fed Butler for a fastbreak dunk to make it 102-96 with 1:43 left to play.

Boston had its own transition chance trailing 102-98 before Tatum was called for an offensive foul. The Celtics challenged the call, but it stood after review.

After another miss by Boston that was called out of bounds on Boston, Marcus Smart threw his hands up in frustration at the call and was ejected.

Miami was then able to close out the game on the free throw line.

NOTES: The Boston Celtics say center Robert Williams III is expected to miss 4 to 6 weeks after undergoing surgery to repair torn cartilage in his left knee.

The team said Williams underwent a partial knee meniscectomy on Wednesday morning at a hospital in Boston. He was hurt against Minnesota on Sunday.

Williams, a staunch defender, was averaging 10 points, 9.6 rebounds and just over two blocks this season.