The Boston Celtics defeated the Miami Heat, 95-78, at American Airlines Arena on Thursday night.

The Celtics (3-5) came in as fairly significant underdogs to a Heat (6-2) squad that was playing elite ball on both ends of the floor. It appeared that outlook was justified early on, when Miami jumped out to a 24-18 lead through one. However, Boston's performance in the second quarter was so thoroughly dominating it completely changed the dynamic of the contest, as the visitors outscored their hosts by a 33-9 margin to essentially put the game away at that point. The Celtics shot just 39.7 percent, but with a 39.0 percent success rate from three-point range and a defensive effort that limited the Heat to a 34.6 percent figure, it proved to be more than enough.

Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 17 points, complementing them with five rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block. Dennis Schroder furnished 14 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals. Aaron Nesmith supplied 13 points, three rebounds and one assist. Romeo Langford poured in 12 points, while Jayson Tatum and Al Horford generated matching 10-point tallies and pulled down eight and seven rebounds, respectively.

Jimmy Butler paced the Heat with 20 points, complementing them with four rebounds, two assists and one steal. Duncan Robinson posted 16 points and four boards, while Bam Adebayo registered 13 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. Markieff Morris tallied nine points and four rebounds.

The Celtics remain on the road and visit the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night, while the Heat remains home and hosts the Utah Jazz on Saturday night as well.