Miami beat Boston, take 1-0 lead in NBA East final series

By Can Erozden

ANKARA (AA) - Jimmy Butler-led Miami Heat on Tuesday toppled Boston Celtics 118-107 to be 1-0 ahead in the 2022 NBA Eastern Conference final series.

A Miami forward since 2019, Butler, 32, scored 41 points and grabbed nine rebounds in Game 1 at the Miami's FTX Arena.

Heat point guard Tyler Herro scored 18 points, and Gabe Vincent added 17 points for Miami.

Boston star Jayson Tatum racked up 29 points, while his teammate Jaylen Brown posted a double-double.

Celtics guard Brown tallied 24 points and 10 rebounds.

As a team, the Heat made 12 blocks as Bam Adebayo – a Miami center – was the team's block leader with four.

Miami displayed an emphatic performance in the third quarter to score 39 points. Boston scored 14 in that quarter.

The Heat were on a 93-76 lead by the end of the third quarter, and controlled the game for the rest of the time to bag a home win.

Game 2 is scheduled for Thursday, and will be played in Miami as well.

The NBA playoffs are played in a best-of-seven format. This means a team bagging four wins will progress to the next round.

In the West finals, Golden State Warriors will take on Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 at the San Francisco's Chase Center on Wednesday.