Heat scorch Celtics for sixth straight victory

The Miami Heat ended Boston's nine-game NBA winning streak with a 117-103 victory that pushed the surging champions Celtics further behind Eastern Conference leaders Cleveland — who rallied to beat New York on Wednesday.

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Tyler Herro scored 25 points to lead seven players in double figures for the Heat, who fought off a late Celtics surge to notch a sixth straight victory. Boston connected on just 37.2 per cent of their shots in the first half in the face of stout Miami defense and the Heat extended their lead to 22 points early in the third quarter.

The Celtics, led by 24 points from Jaylen Brown, cut the deficit to three, but Miami had pushed it back to 10 entering the fourth quarter.

After the Celtics pulled within four early in the final frame the Heat relentlessly pulled away again.

"That just plays into that connection piece that we've been talking about the last couple of weeks," Herro said.

"Playing as one, playing as a unit. They made their run — we stayed together. We didn't fold, we didn't let go of the rope."

The victory solidified Miami's position in the Eastern Conference play-in, while the Celtics fell five games behind the Cavaliers atop the conference with six games left in the regular season.