Final: Celtics 112, Heat 102 -- Hayward helps Celtics pull away in crunch time

Gordon Hayward scored 11 of his team-high 25 points in the fourth quarter while Kyrie Irving chipped in with 23 points, as the Celtics pulled away from the Heat late with a 112-102 win in South Beach to sweep the home-and-home series. Jayson Tatum added nine of his 16 points in the fourth quarter as Boston outscored Miami 29-21 in the final frame behind some timely shotmaking from Tatum and Hayward. Boston's defense was far improved down the stretch as well as the Heat shot just 34 percent from the field in the fourth in a game that was crucial for their playoff chances.

The win keeps the Celtics even with the Pacers for the No. 4 seed with three games to play heading into Friday's huge matchup at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Goran Dragic had a team-high 21 points for the Heat who have now dropped out of the playoff picture in the East for the time being.

First Half Notes

• Marcus Smart giving Goran Dragic all kinds of trouble early with a couple steals leading to buckets.


• Baynes completely ignoring Adebayo when he sets screen to provide help around the basket


• Irving picking on Waiters early with eight of his first 18 points


• Baynes with some nice monster screens and really making his presence known on the glass with five of first seven rebounds


• Olynyk making Horford pay a couple times with slow closeouts. Horford isn’t used to guarding stretch 5s much this year and it showing.


• Strong defensive help in the paint early for Dragic to prevent easy baskets.


• C’s offense starts to sputter once Heat break out the 2-3 zone midway through the quarter.


• Kyrie’s shotmaking rescuing C’s on a couple of possessions and Smart/Ojeleye attacked middle of zone better but still a few lapses.


• Whiteside giving the C’s a problem on the offensive glass with Baynes resting. Heat pile up 10 second chance points in opening quarter on five offensive rebounds when C’s collapsed on drives.


• C’s continue to pile up early fouls against head fakes, which puts them in the penalty early in quarter.


• Heat struggling to take advantage though as they are missing open looks as C’s open quarter on a 10-3 and manage to add to lead despite woes against 2-3 zone


• Hayward/Rozier getting the benefit of a couple friendly whistles early. Rozier still struggles to finish around rim but is keeping his shot total down.


• Hayward finishes half with 10 points off the bench, knocking down a couple 3s and getting to the free throw line a team-high four times


• Horford’s free throw jumper really coming in handy with the zone.


• Stevens go with no bigs in the first half off the bench, really just relying on staggering Horford/Baynes in order to keep defense steady.


• Heat shot just 40 percent in the first half, but manage to stay in the game with nine offensive rebounds and 15 second chance points.

• The Celtics will be without Marcus Morris and Jaylen Brown for Wednesday's home and home. Morris is being held out to rest his sore knee for precautionary reasons while Brown will miss his second straight game with back spasms. Both players are expected to return later this week.


• The Celtics have an open roster spot yet again after opting to not re-sign Greg Monroe on Wednesday. The veteran big man instead signed with the Sixers for the remainder of the season. Boston will likely leave this roster spot open until the final day of the regular season, but they are expected to add someone to have a full 15-man roster for the postseason run.


• The Heat will be without forward Derrick Jones Jr. in this one but they will have far more healthy reinforcements compared to Monday with Justise Winslow, Josh Richardson and Rodney McGruder all back and available after sitting out in Boston.


• The Celtics will likely face a steady diet of 2-3 zone again against Miami that tripped them up in the second half on Monday night: "They dare you to shoot those shots in the middle, and with their length it’s a good dare and you usually aren’t successful, and we missed a ton of those," Brad Stevens explained. "We’ve got to make sure that we’re a little bit more purposeful and getting a great one. And not staring.  You know, I think sometimes when you’re – when you tense up a little bit because they’re coming back, you know you – you have a tendency to stare – the ball starts bouncing a little bit more and you’re not getting a side-to-side with as good a movement as you need to with the zone.”