Sam Hauser led the charge during that stretch, making two of his game-leading five 3-pointers as part of a season-high 15-point first half. After overcoming the early 11-point deficit, Boston never trailed again, pushing its lead out to as many as 24 points before coming away with a 103-85 win.

MIAMI — The Celtics and Heat have crafted one of the NBA’s better rivalries over the last five years, but it is hard not to feel like this chapter has at least temporarily closed after Miami traded star forward Jimmy Butler to the Warriors last week.

T he Boston Celtics are heating up after a fairly rough midseason slump that saw the ball club play around .500 basketball from Thanksgiving until well into the month of January.