Isaiah Thomas, Bench lead Boston Celtics to Victory Over Heat

Dwyane Wade almost willed the Heat to a win against the Boston Celtics in Miami Monday night.

Isaiah Thomas and his bench mates had a different idea in mind.

Thomas had 25 points, 20 in the 2nd half, and the Celtics bench outscored the Heat’s bench 59-24 in the 100-90 Celtics road win on Monday night.

Wade scored 34 points, including 14 in the fourth, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the inspired play of the Celtics.

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The bench for the Celtics has been playing well since the All-Star break. Having Thomas has been a huge plus, but newcomers like Jonas Jerebko and Luigi Datome have recently helped as well.

Datome, for the second straight game, scored in double figures. He had 13 points and 3 rebounds in 21 minutes of play.

Stellar defense in the first half staked the Celtics to a 43-40 halftime lead. The Celtics had led by nine in the 2nd quarter but an 8-2 run by the Heat to close out the half brought the deficit to within three.

Datome had nine of his points in the first half. The play of the bench extended to Gerald Wallace, who had 3 rebounds, 1 block, and 1 steal in nine minutes of first-half play.

The Heat were able to take a 57-54 lead with 6:11 remaining in the third on a Luol Deng jumper.

The Celtics responded with a 15-1 run in which they held the Heat to no field goals for just over four minutes.

Foul trouble by the Celtics kept the Heat in the game in a physical second half. The Celtics committed 17 fouls in the half, leading to the Heat shooting 21-28 from the line.

The Heat would get no closer than three in the fourth as Thomas’ 12 fourth-quarter points sealed the deal for the Celtics.

With Kelly Olynyk (13 pts, 3 reb) on the mend, the bench seems to be getting stronger as the season wears on.

Brandon Bass, coming off a career night in the loss to the Magic, had 14 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals.

The Celtics are playing with great chemistry and energy on the defensive end as of late, which is one reason they have won six of their last ten games.

With the victory, the Celtics gained a game on the Heat and the Bobcats (who lost to the Wizards Monday night). The Celtics are 2 games back of the Bobcats for the 8th seed in the East.

The Celtics have a day to rest up before returning home to take on the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday.

News and Notes

-Three players were ejected from the game. Hassan Whiteside and Henry Walker were ejected for the Heat while Evan Turner was tossed out for the Celtics.

-The Celtics only shot 24% (6-25) from beyond the arc but shot 44.8% overall (39-87)

-The Celtics lost to Memphis 117-100 back in November.