On a night when they were badly outrebounded, the Celtics' hot outside shooting helped them run away from the Heat.

VITALS: The Miami Heat (15-12) and Boston Celtic s (15-11) meet for the first of four regular season matchups. Last season, Boston won the series, 3-1. The Heat are 54-86 all-time versus the Celtics during the regular season, including 30-42 in home games and 24-44 in road games.

BOSTON — Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has spent a lot of time watching Celtics guard Derrick White during his career, including with Team USA as a coach during the 2024 Olympics.

With Isaiah Thomas watching from courtside, the Celtics took over in the fourth quarter to beat the Heat 129-116.

The Miami Heat will face off against the Boston Celtics, who are ahead of the Heat by half a game in the Eastern Conference standings, on Friday night. Here are

The Miami Heat (15-12) and Boston Celtics (15-11) meet Friday at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. Let's analyze BetMGM Sportsbook's NBA odds around the Heat vs. Celtics odds and make our expert NBA picks and predictions for the best bets.

On December 19, 2025, the Boston Celtics (15-11) will play the Miami Heat (15-12). FDSSUN and NBCS-BOS will broadcast the game. When the Celtics play .

Smith, a reserve guard for the Miami Heat, tore his Achilles on Christmas Eve of last year and was back on the court for training camp in late September. His layoff lasted roughly nine months, far shorter than the time it took players like Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson to return from their respective Achilles surgeries.

On the second night of a back to back, it was a skeleton crew for the Miami Heat with ten available players, while two of those ten being on two-way contracts.