MIAMI -- The Boston Celtics came to AmericanAirlines Arena on Tuesday night to play the Miami Heat without their second-leading scorer and leading rebounder. Kemba Walker then finished the game with 16 points on 5-for-19 shooting.
That combination is not exactly a recipe for success.
But it turned out none of that mattered -- thanks to a pair of brilliant performances by Gordon Hayward and Jaylen Brown, who combined for 54 points on 20-for-30 shooting to overcome an off night by Walker, as well as the absences of Jayson Tatum (groin) and Enes Kanter (hip), to power Boston to a 109-101 win over Miami in a battle of top-four teams in the East.
"They're both good players," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. "Obviously, [Jaylen has] had a great year, and Gordon has been in a good rhythm the last couple of games. They made timely baskets.
"I thought everybody did. Everybody was good at just making the next right play. It started from the get-go. We knew this was going to be hard."
It certainly wasn't easy, as the Heat hung around despite missing rookie starter Kendrick Nunn, who sat out Monday night against Orlando and Tuesday with a sore Achilles.
But, ultimately, the combination of Hayward (29 points on 10-for-14 shooting) and Brown (25 points on 10-for-16 shooting) was too much for Miami, which shot 37% overall and a dismal 9-for-37 (24.3%) from 3-point range.
"Being connected," Brown said when asked what allowed Boston to have so much success defensively. "Just coming out with the right mentality. I think we did that tonight, and it showed."
Walker did manage to rack up eight assists but simply couldn't get anything going from the field, and especially from behind the 3-point arc, from which he shot just 3-for-13.
He credited his teammates for picking him up on a night when he couldn't get things going.
"For me, personally, I'm struggling a lot, but my teammates kept me upbeat," Walker said. "They kept me confident. Making sure I wasn't worried about the misses. Just keep playing the game, keep flowing, that's what we did. That was a huge win. Everybody came in and did a great job playing their role tonight. That was a great team victory right there."
Hayward, in addition to his hot shooting night from the field, also went 8-for-10 from the free throw line. It was the first time Hayward had eclipsed six attempts or makes in a game since opening night, when he went 9-for-11 in a loss in Philadelphia. It also was just the fourth time this season Hayward has gotten as many as five free throws in a game -- though just the first time Boston had won one of those games.
He credited his success at getting to the line with his repeated insistence on attacking Miami's zone, which Boston eventually began to break down over the course of the second half.
"I think just trying to have an attacking mindset," Hayward said. "I think the zone stifled us for a little while there. It's a tough zone, too. They do a good job, too. It's a different type of zone, too. They do a good job with it. Just trying to attack and, like I said, make some winning plays for us."
The combination of Boston's win over Miami and the Raptors' win over the Atlanta Hawks puts Toronto's coaching staff in pole position to claim the Eastern Conference's All-Star coaching honors for next month's All-Star Game in Chicago.
Toronto is now second in the Eastern Conference at 33-14, while the Heat are 32-15 and the Celtics are 31-15 in fourth. But while the Heat play one more game this week and the Celtics play two, the Raptors play three -- Thursday in Cleveland, Friday in Detroit and Sunday at home against Chicago.
If the Raptors win two of those three games, they are guaranteed to end Sunday with the second-best record in the East -- which, in turn, will ensure Raptors coach Nick Nurse and his staff will be coaching Team Giannis in Chicago. The Milwaukee Bucks have the best record in the league, but because Mike Budenholzer coached the All-Star Game last year, he's ineligible to do so again this season.
Los Angeles Lakers coach Frank Vogel clinched the honor of coaching Team LeBron earlier this month.