Final: Heat 90, Celtics 89

Kelly Olynyk played the game of his life in his return to the TD Garden on Wednesday night.

The former Celtic big man scored a career-high 32 points on 12-of-15 shooting, carrying an undermanned Heat squad (missing four rotation players) to a 90-89 win over the Celtics.

The hosts led by as many as 12 points in the first half before a woeful shooting performance (partially due to a zone defense implemented by the Heat). The Celtics shot 37.5 percent on the night, opening the door for a monster second half from Olynyk (25 points) to help Miami escape with the win.

Kyrie Irving had a game-high 33 points for the Celtics in the defeat but missed a potential game-winner as time expired, a midrange jumper from the right elbow.

Third Quarter Notes

• The Celtics have an ugly habit of laying eggs at home in single quarters lately and this game was no different. The hosts shot a paltry 4-of-17 in the frame, as the Heat switched into a 2-3 zone that the C's couldn't seem to figure out.


• Brad Stevens tried to go small early with Marcus Smart over Aron Baynes, but the Heat remained big with Olynyk and Adebayo in the frontcourt.


• Olynyk caught fire on his own making seven straight shots at one point (spanning back to the first quarter) to help the Heat jumped out to a 19-5 run midway through the frame and open up a nine-point lead.


• With the Celtics' offense looking lifeless with the starters, Brad Stevens turned to his all-bench unit late in the frame for some energy. He got some timely 3-point shooting from Marcus Smart (3-of-6 from deep), but the uneven play continued.

• Defensive struggle between these two teams out of the gate, particularly with the Heat down four key offensive weapons (Dragic, Johnson, Whiteside, Winslow). The Celtics jumped out to a 14-5 run over the first five minutes though as Jaylen Brown and Kyrie Irving combined to score 10 straight points for Boston in one stretch.


• An early scare for the Celtics starting five though as Jayson Tatum went down with a dislocated right pinky after a dive. He returned to the game later in the quarter though after getting the injury taped back in the locker room.


• Without Tatum in the fold, Brown ended up doing much of the heavy lifting for the Celtics in the first quarter. He continued his hot shooting from downtown (2-of-2) and scored 12 of Boston's 24 points overall on 5-of-7 shooting.


• The offense fell off a cliff early in the second quarter for Boston with the Horford/Tatum/bench unit lineup as Miami's tenacious defense hunkered down. Tatum wasn't looking to be very aggressive with his pinky injury and the rest of the lineup couldn't get much separation against the Heat.


• The ugly offense continued even after the starters return to the fold. The one surprise spark that Stevens found was from Guerschon Yabusele, who hit a pair of 3-pointers from the top of the key. He also provided some good energy on the offensive glass in his six minutes.


• The Heat went 1-of-12 from 3-point range in the opening 24 minutes and no players scored more than eight points.


• The vast majority of the C's offense came on the break (12 first half fast break points). They struggled to get reliable looks in the halfcourt.


• Irving and Brown combined for 24 of Boston's 44 first half points.

• Daniel Theis will be active on Wednesday night despite undergoing a procedure on Tuesday morning to reset his nose. He will wear a fitted mask for a few weeks as his nose heels, continuing the C's trend of facial protection this year.


• Former Celtic Kelly Olynyk will receive a 'Hero among us' award from the Celtics before the game to honor his contributions to the community during his four years in Boston. He was one of the most active players at community events in the team's history. "It’s great," Brad Stevens said before the game. "Kelly was really active in the community, he’s a great guy, obviously played great for us and was a person I enjoyed being around every day. That’s a fun way to honor him, because it’s bigger than what you do on the court and he embraced that. He lived that out well. It wasn’t just talk, it wasn’t just when the cameras were on, he was out there all the time. Having young kids myself, he was as engaged in them as anybody, and I appreciate people who really think about the impact they have on their community. He does it as well as anybody."


• The Celtics will catch a break with Miami missing four key rotation pieces in Goran Dragic, Hassan Whiteside, James Johnson and Justise Winslow due to injuries. Dion Waiters is dealing with flu-like symptoms as well. Ex-Celtic Jordan Mickey will likely see some minutes off the bench for Miami due to those absences.