Stars shine as Celtics regroup to beat Heat in Game 3 of Eastern Conference finals

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The Boston Celtics regrouped and rebounded on Saturday.

Not only from a loss in the previous game, but from the emotional and heated postgame exchanges after the Celtics fell in a 2-0 series hole against the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals two days prior.

"I mean, listen, when you want something really bad and you come up short, especially when it's going well for you," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said, "there's going to be some scarring and for us, there was some scarring the other night that showed itself and that's part of a team. And then the team reconnects, recenters and gets back to go to work. That's what you do."

The Celtics defeated the Heat 117-106 in Game 3, making it a 2-1 series. Game 4 is Wednesday (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).

Boston’s Jayson Tatum had 25 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists, and Jaylen Brown had 26 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. Kemba Walker added 21 points, and Marcus Smart contributed 20 points and six assists.

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"What I do best is get to the basket, so I wanted to come out and just be the best version of myself," Brown said.

The Celtics received big games from their most important players.

It was a game Boston needed to win — though it let a safe lead dwindle to dangerous territory in the final minutes — and it found better ways to attack Miami’s defense, especially the zone. The Celtics exposed seams in the zone and made a concerted effort to attack the rim. Boston outscored the Heat 60-36 in the paint, and ball movement led to 27 assists on 41 baskets.

"We wanted to really attack," Stevens said. "If we're putting it on the floor, we want to get to the rim and make a play for ourselves or others."

Said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra: "They came out, Boston did, with great force in this game and you do have to credit them for that. They sustained it for the better majority of the game. We were on our heels most of the game, flattening us out with our execution, getting us into the end of the clock on too many possessions.

"And then I think everybody can see that the dribble attack penetration in the paint, we weren't able to contain the ball all night, and you have to credit them. They were playing with great force."

Gordon Hayward played for the first time since spraining his right ankle against Philadelphia in Game 1 on the first round on Aug. 17. He left the bubble for treatment, returned for quarantine and then rehabbed his way into availability for Game 3.

He had just six points but made an impact with five rebounds, four assists and three steals in 30 minutes.

"He asked to come out a couple times," Stevens said. "The wind caught up to him a couple times. I thought he did what he's done all year. He didn't shoot it quite as much. But he is a stabilizing force for our team. He just can make the right play and make a play for somebody else at the right time. And he hit the big three as they were making a run, so I think he makes us better, that's for sure."

The Heat looked lethargic and lackadaisical, a step too slow offensively and defensively and careless with the basketball.

Miami's Tyler Herro scored 22 points and had a stretch in the second quarter where he scored 11 points in 2:18. Bam Adebayo had 27 points and 16 rebounds, but take away the shooting numbers from Herro and Adebayo and the Heat were just 28.3% from the field.

The Heat made nine of their first 20 3-pointers, then missed 15 consecutive before Duncan Robinson made one midway through the fourth quarter.

Miami had a couple of chances to get back in the game. It trailed just 51-48 with 2:40 left in the second quarter and went into halftime down 63-50. With 1:08 left in the third quarter, Herro’s layup cut the Celtics’ lead to 82-73. Two minutes into the fourth quarter, Boston had a 97-78 advantage.

This was just Miami’s second loss of the postseason. It swept Indiana, beat Milwaukee in five games then took the first two games against Boston.

Now it’s the Heat’s turn to see if they can regroup.

"We didn't play hard enough," Miami's Jimmy Butler said. "I think we didn't do anything that we said that we were going to do. We knew how they were going to attack us. We weren't helping each other. We weren't making an extra pass a lot of the times. We have to play basketball the way we have been playing the games that we have been winning. We understand that."

Follow Jeff Zillgitt on Twitter @JeffZillgitt.