BOSTON (AP) — The Miami Heat beat Boston with an unprecedented barrage of 3-pointers on Wednesday night to erase the home-court advantage the Celtics worked all season to establish. Tyler Herro had 24 points and 14 assists, hitting six of Miami’s 23 3-pointers — the most in a playoff game in franchise history — to lead the Heat to a 111-101 victory over top-seeded Boston and tie the first-round playoff series at one game apiece. Bam Adebayo had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and new Celtics nemesis Caleb Martin also had 21 points for the Heat, who shot 53.5% (23 of 43) from beyond the arc to bounc ..read more

BOSTON (AP) — The Celtics spent the days leading up to their playoff matchup with Miami talking about wanting to match the physicality of a team that would be looking for an edge without star Jimmy Butler. Boston did that and then some. Jayson Tatum notched his first career playoff triple-double with 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists to lead Boston past the Miami Heat 114-94 on Sunday to open their first-round playoff series. Derrick White added 20 points and four assists for Boston, which finished with six players in double-figures. The Celtics’ lead grew as high as 34 points in the fourt ..read more

BOSTON (AP) — As the Boston Celtics prepare for what they hope will be their latest NBA title run, coach Joe Mazzulla had his team look to past NBA champions for inspiration. The list included sworn adversaries, like the Los Angeles Lakers and their 2010 run, as well as the last Boston team to raise the Larry O’Brien Trophy in 2008. “Every path is different,” Celtics All-Star Jayson Tatum said. “The ’08 team, they went to two Game 7s in the first and second round. He’s just getting us prepared. It’s not always going to go maybe how we expect it or want it to go. And we have to be rea ..read more

With Miami Heat guard Jimmy Butler sidelined after suffering a right knee injury during Wednesday’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers, the Heat are set to face off against the Chicago Bulls in a win-or-else game Friday night in the NBA’s play-in tournament. Butler suffered an MCL sprain on his right knee during the final seconds of the opening quarter in the Heat’s play-in loss against Philadelphia. He played for 40 minutes and was able to get the Heat 19 points. While Butler will be out for several weeks as his recovers, several other Heat players will not play in Friday’s game due to ..read more

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joel Embiid showed why Philadelphia always has a shot at a long postseason run as long as he’s in the lineup. Embiid had 23 points, 15 rebounds and one huge assist to Kelly Oubre Jr. on a go-ahead three-point play that led the 76ers to a 105-104 win over the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament on Wednesday night. The 76ers earned the No. 7 seed and advanced to play the second-seeded New York Knicks in the opening round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Game 1 is Saturday at Madison Square Garden. The Heat — who went from the play-in tourney to the NBA ..read more

PHILADELPHIA (WSVN) — The Miami Heat are gearing up for their Wednesday night match-up against the Philadelphia 76ers. The highly anticipated game between the two teams will decide which one will earn the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference title. 7News cameras captured Miami Heat players warming up at Temple University, Wednesday morning. “You can feel it. It’s that time of year again. Everyone’s excited to be, you know, done with the regular season, so we’re excited,” said Heat guard Tyler Herro. The team’s head coach, Erik Spoelstra, said his team is ready. “We’re looking forward to it ..read more

USA Basketball studied every men’s basketball game it has played for about two decades and a clear trend eventually appeared. When the defense isn’t good enough, the Americans tend to get themselves into trouble. And the team for the Paris Olympics was built with that in mind. LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Bam Adebayo, Devin Booker, Joel Embiid, Jayson Tatum, Anthony Davis, Jrue Holiday, Tyrese Haliburton, Anthony Edwards and Kawhi Leonard were formally announced as members of the U.S. Olympic team on Wednesday — a group with nearly 200,000 NBA points, 84 All-Star Game selections ..read more

PHILADELPHIA (WSVN) — The Miami Heat arrived in Philadelphia on Tuesday evening, one day before they are set to face the Philadelphia 76ers. Even though a loss wouldn’t mean elimination for the Heat, the team is approaching the game as a one-game season. 7News cameras captured the Heat’s final practice match before the big game on Wednesday. “It’s going to be fun, it’s going to be competitive, competitive as always, we’re going to go out there complete and play off,” said Heat center Bam Adebayo. The Heat will play against 76ers in the Seventh-Eighth Eastern Conference play-in game. Head Coach ..read more

MIAMI (AP) — After a 46-win regular season, the Miami Heat still aren’t in the playoffs. It’ll take one more victory to get that job done. And they’ll have two chances, if necessary. Thomas Bryant scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 18 points and the Heat tuned up for a trip to the play-in tournament by beating the Toronto Raptors 118-103 on Sunday. Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro each scored 17 for Miami, while Jimmy Butler scored 15, Caleb Martin 12 and Delon Wright finished with 11 points and five steals for the Heat (46-36). Miami goes to Philadelphia to open the p ..read more

MIAMI (AP) — Nikola Jovic scored 22 points, Jaime Jaquez Jr. had 20 points and nine assists, and the Miami Heat kept hope alive of escaping the play-in tournament by topping the Toronto Raptors 125-103 on Friday night. Bam Adebayo scored 19 points, Tyler Herro scored 18, and Jimmy Butler and Kevin Love each scored 14 for the Heat (45-36). Miami still could get out of the play-in with a win in a rematch against the Raptors on Sunday and some help. It’s the 14th time in Heat history that the team won 45 games in a season; all 13 of the previous squads made the playoffs. RJ Barrett had 35 points ..read more