The Miami Heat defeated the Boston Celtics, 115-99, at American Airlines Arena on Thursday evening.

The Celtics (25-16) came in the much hotter team, but it was the hometown Heat (20-20) that looked like the more prepared squad from the opening tip. After forging a 28-24 first-quarter lead, Miami outscored Boston by a 33-19 margin in the second to build a commanding 61-43 halftime advantage. Although the visitors made a game of it for a time in the third quarter, the hosts took control and never looked back down the stretch. The Heat enjoyed sizable shooting and rebounding advantages, draining 47.9 percent of their attempts, including 46.2 percent from three-point range, while limiting the Celtics to a 40.4 percent success rate. They also won the battle of the boards, 51-37.

Kyrie Irving paced the Celtics with 22 points, a total he supplemented with five rebounds, five assists, one steal and one block. Marcus Smart followed with 18 points, two assists, one rebound and one block. Jayson Tatum and Marcus Morris had matching 17-point tallies and brought down four and six rebounds, respectively. Al Horford had just two points over 28 minutes on 1-for-8 shooting.

Dwyane Wade led the Heat with 19 points, adding an assist and a steal. Josh Richardson supplied 18 points, six assists and three rebounds. Derrick Jones, Jr. turned in 14 points, seven boards, two steals and one block. Justise Winslow supplied 13 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds. James Johnson registered 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and one block. Tyler Johnson checked in with 11 points, three rebounds and one assist.

The Celtics next head to Central Florida and take on the Orlando Magic on Saturday night, while the Heat remains home to take on the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday afternoon.