The Miami Heat defeated the Boston Celtics, 109-103, at TD Garden on Saturday night in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference Finals series. The Heat leads the series, 2-1.

The Heat (2-1) came out of the chute clearly intent on atoning for an embarrassing home loss in Game 2, as they built a 39-18 lead through one. The Celtics (1-2) came out of their slumber to an extent in the second to cut the deficit to 15 by halftime, and it appeared they'd have a solid chance of mounting a comeback when Jimmy Butler was announced as out for the remainder of the game coming out of intermission due to knee inflammation. However, the two teams played to a 25-25 stalemate in the third, and although Boston teased a comeback on multiple occasions and got as close as within one with 2:40 remaining, a 7-0 run by Miami immediately thereafter put the game out of reach.

Bam Adebayo led the Heat with a 31-point, 10-rebound double-double that included six assists, four steals and one block. P.J. Tucker furnished 17 points, seven boards, one assist, three steals and one block. Max Strus delivered 16 points, four boards, two assists and one block. Kyle Lowry made his return from a hamstring injury to total 11 points, six assists, one rebound and four steals. Butler supplied eight points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals across 20 minutes before his exit.

Jaylen Brown paced the Celtics with 40 points, complementing them with nine rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block. Al Horford generated a 20-point, 14-rebound double-double that included three assists and three blocks. Marcus Smart managed 16 points, seven assists and four rebounds. Jayson Tatum and Grant Williams registered matching 10-point tallies while pulling down six and five rebounds, respectively. Tatum also added four assists.

The two teams reconvene on Monday night at TD Garden for Game 4.