Boston, MA (SportsNetwork.com) - Hassan Whiteside scored 20 points with nine rebounds in the Miami Heat's 83-75 win over the Boston Celtics on Sunday.
Chris Bosh supplied 18 points for the Heat, who snapped their two-game losing streak.
"It was good to see us grind out an 'ugly game.' Those are wins we like to get," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Avery Bradley and Tyler Zeller each scored 17 points for the Celtics, while Marcus Smart dished out a career-high nine assists.
Boston has lost four straight at home and three straight overall.
Boston struggled to put the ball in the basket during the early stages of the first quarter, as Miami built a 10-4 lead over five minutes in.
The Celtics went 5-of-22 from the floor in the first quarter and trailed 25-15 entering the second.
Bosh nailed a 3-pointer prior to Mario Chalmers netting a layup that made it a 15-point game late in the second. Miami led 44-31 at halftime.
Boston addressed its offensive deficiency in the locker room, as it opened the second half making its first seven attempts from the floor and trimming the deficit to four. Marcus Thornton then tied the game at 55-55 late in the third quarter.
The Heat brought a 61-59 lead into the fourth.
"We started to sure (our defense) up. The third quarter was great," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said.
Miami scored the first eight points of the final stanza to push the lead back to double digits. Zeller made a free throw to cut the deficit to six with 1:32 remaining, then Smart stole the ensuing inbounds pass but Bradley stepped out of bounds during the possession.
Norris Cole essentially sealed it with a mid-range jumper that made it 82-74 with just over a minute on the clock.
Game Notes
Miami had dropped 11 of its last 12 regular-season games in Boston entering the game ... Tyler Johnson scored a career-high 13 points off the Miami bench ... The Heat made 41.6 percent of their shots, while limiting Boston to 37 percent shooting.
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