Miami forward Jimmy Butler celebrates after a basket in the second half of Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals Friday night in Boston. The Heat took a 2-0 series lead over the Celtics with a 111-105 win. Charles Krupa/Associated Press
BOSTON — Jimmy Butler scored 27 points, hitting a pair of buckets to give the Heat the lead after they erased a double-digit, fourth-quarter deficit, and Miami beat Boston 111-105 on Friday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.
Bam Adebayo had 22 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists, and Caleb Martin came off the bench to score 25 points for eighth-seeded Miami, which won twice in Boston to earn a chance to complete a sweep at home.
Game 3 is Sunday.
Jayson Tatum had 34 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists for Boston. But the Celtics star went 0 for 2 with two turnovers in the fourth quarter, when Boston blew an 89-77 lead en route to a second home loss in three nights. Jaylen Brown scored 16 points on 7-for-23 shooting, and was 1 for 5 with a turnover in the final quarter, when Miami outscored Boston 36-22.
The Celtics led by 11 in the third quarter and made it a dozen early in the fourth. It was a 96-87 Boston lead when Butler scored, going forehead-to-forehead with Grant Williams before hitting the free throw to complete the three-point play.
Butler sneered at Williams’ attempt to get him off his game with words, and after Tatum missed from long distance, Butler drove to the basket to make it a four-point game.
Miami trailed 98-96 when Butler was called for an offensive foul, kicking Marcus Smart after landing on a missed 3-pointer.
Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra challenged, but lost.
Butler responded, hitting a 17-footer to tie it 100-all, and then a short fadeaway to give Miami the lead. After Max Strus made one of two free throws, Adebayo scored on a putback dunk to make it 105-100 with less than a minute to play.
Boston used a 21-2 run to turn an eight-point, first-quarter deficit into an 11-point lead.
TIP-INS
Brown was 1 for 7 in the first quarter, when Tatum scored 12 points. Derrick White, who made a single 3-pointer, was the only Celtics player other than Tatum who scored more than 2 points in the first quarter. … Adebayo and Butler each grabbed five rebounds in the first quarter. … Lowry and Grant Williams did a little shoving after Williams fouled Adebayo with nine minutes left in the second quarter, with no repercussions.
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