NBA: Boston Celtics crank up defense again, roll past Miami Heat 95-78

Whatever the Boston Celtics said at that team dinner a few days ago clearly worked. Especially on the defensive end.

Jaylen Brown scored 17 points to lead six Boston players in double figures, and the Celtics played airtight defense for a second consecutive night on the way to easily beating the Miami Heat 95-78 on Thursday.

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The Celtics became the first team since Toronto in April 2018 to hold consecutive opponents under 80 points, and Miami had its worst scoring night since managing only 74 at Oklahoma City on Jan. 17, 2016.

“I wouldn’t say that’s the prototype for us offensively,” Celtics coach Ime Udoka said. “Defensively, that’s exactly what we want it to look like.”

Dennis Schroder scored 14, Aaron Nesmith had 13 and Romeo Langford scored 12 for Boston, which swept a back-to-back in Orlando and Miami by giving up an average of 78.5 points on 33% shooting. The Celtics topped the Magic 92-79 on Wednesday.

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Boston’s week started by giving up 128 points at home to Chicago on Monday. Then came a team dinner on Tuesday, and the Celtics’ defense has been feasting since. “I think this was a statement game,” Nesmith said.

Jimmy Butler scored 20 points for Miami, which lost point guard Kyle Lowry to a sprained left ankle in the third quarter as part of an utterly forgettable night. The Heat shot 35%, 9 for 41 from 3-point range and managed a total of 55 points in the final three quarters.

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Duncan Robinson had 16 points on 5-for-17 shooting — all of it from 3-point range — for the Heat, and Bam Adebayo scored 13.

“Any time you get punched in the mouth like that, you’ve got to learn from it,” Robinson said.

The Heat got what had been a 20-point deficit down to eight late in the third quarter, a 14-2 run making it 62-54.

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Whatever hope Miami had at that point didn’t last for long. Boston closed the third on an 11-1 run to go up by 18, Lowry limped into the locker room in obvious pain, and the Celtics maintained control the rest of the way.

Miami had four separate scoreless stretches of 2 minutes, 21 seconds or more in the first half alone, including a stretch of 5:38 late in the second quarter as Boston took control.