The Celtics held off a late run by the Heat and claimed a 110-106 victory on Sunday as tempers flared throughout the game.
Here are the takeaways.
1. We’ve said it before. We will say it again. We will say it now: What a difference a year (and a Kristaps Porzingis) makes.
The Heat are a really good team, and they nearly overcame the Celtics despite the absence of Jimmy Butler, who was away from the team due to a personal matter. But Porzingis once again gave the Celtics a completely new look against the Heat, and Miami did not have a viable answer for his combination of size and skill.