GABE VINCENT

A frustrated Bam Adebayo tore his jersey apart as he walked off the court after the final buzzer.

Jaylen Brown scored 25 points, Jayson Tatum added 22 and the Boston Celtics moved to the brink of a berth in the NBA Finals, running away after halftime to beat the Miami Heat 93-80 and take a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference title series.

Celtics point guard and Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart was ruled out for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals against Miami.

Jayson Tatum scored 27 points, Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown each scored 24 and the Boston Celtics dominated the first half to roll past the Miami Heat 127-102 and tie the Eastern Conference finals at a game apiece.

Al Horford and Marcus Smart are coming back.

Jimmy Butler scored 41 points, and the Miami Heat turned things around with a huge third quarter on the way to beating the shorthanded Boston Celtics 118-107 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals on Tuesday night.

Tyler Herro scored 25 points, Bam Adebayo finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds, and the Miami Heat topped the shorthanded Philadelphia 76ers 106-92 on Monday night in the opener of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

In Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra’s mind, the injury situation with Joel Embiid doesn’t doom the Philadelphia 76ers.

Jimmy Butler scored 13 of his 36 points in a dominant second quarter and the Miami Heat beat the Atlanta Hawks 110-86 on Sunday night to take a 3-1 series lead.

Jimmy Butler scored a playoff career-high 45 points, including a personal 7-0 run in the final moments, and the Miami Heat held off the Atlanta Hawks 115-105 in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference first-round series Tuesday night.

Tyrese Maxey scored 13 of his game-high 28 points in the fourth quarter, including nine in a row during a crucial stretch, to lead the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers to a 113-106 victory over the Eastern Conference-leading Miami Heat.

Jrue Holiday banked in a driving layup with 1.9 seconds left and the Milwaukee Bucks rallied from a 14-point deficit in the final six minutes to beat the Miami Heat 120-119.

Bulls Heat Basketball Miami Heat guard Gabe Vincent (2) and forward Caleb Martin (16) pressure Chicago Bulls center DeMar DeRozan (11) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier) (Marta Lavandier)MIAMI — (AP) — Gabe Vincent and Tyler Herro each scored 20 points, and the Miami Heat improved their standing atop the Eastern Conference by topping the Chicago Bulls 112-99 on Monday night. Zach LaVine led the Bulls with 22 points, while Ayo Dosunmu had 18 and Nikola Vucevic added 14 for Chicago. And the Heat are now 3-0 against Chicago, ensuring Miami would hold a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Bulls if one is needed to determine seeding. Heat: Miami is 41-21.

Gabe Vincent and Tyler Herro each scored 20 points, and the Miami Heat improved their standing atop the Eastern Conference by topping the Chicago Bulls 112-99.

Duncan Robinson scored 25 points while shooting 7 of 11 from 3-point range to lead four Miami players with 20 or more points in the Heat’s 110-96 victory over the New York Knicks.

The NBA has postponed Miami's game at San Antonio after a combination of injuries and positive COVID-19 tests left the Heat unable to meet the league’s requirement of having eight available players.

Jimmy Butler returned from a bruised tailbone to score 17 points and grab 11 rebounds, Caleb Martin added 17 more and the Miami Heat defeated the Orlando Magic 93-83 on Sunday.

Max Strus scored 23 of his career-best 32 points in the first half, Gabe Vincent added a career-best 27 and the Miami Heat beat the short-handed Orlando Magic 115-105.

When the Dream Team era started in 1992, most of the NBA players in the Olympics represented the United States.

Gregg Popovich has been repeating a similar refrain ever since he got the job to coach the U.S. men’s national basketball team.

Nigeria US Basketball United States' Damian Lillard (6) defends the ball against Nigeria during an exhibition basketball game Saturday, July 10, 2021, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker) (David Becker)LAS VEGAS — (AP) — This is not how USA Basketball expected to open its Olympic summer. Kevin Durant, who had never before played in a loss for USA Basketball in 39 senior international games, had 17 points. “Nigeria’s come a long way with their basketball,” USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo said. Nnamdi made two foul shots with 13.2 seconds left to restore Nigeria’s 3-point edge.

This is not how USA Basketball expected to open its Olympic summer.

Heat Celtics Basketball Miami Heat's Gabe Vincent, left, passes the ball as Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum, center, and Tristan Thompson, right, try to block in the first half of a basketball game, Sunday, May 9, 2021, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) (Steven Senne)BOSTON — (AP) — Jimmy Butler had 26 points and 11 assists to help the Miami Heat hold off the Boston Celtics 130-124 Sunday as the teams fight for position in the tight Eastern Conference playoff race. The Heat (37-31) now have the same record as fifth-place Atlanta, but the Hawks own the head-to-head tiebreaker. He’s appeared in only four games for the Heat since being acquired at the trade deadline by Miami. Celtics: The 79 points allowed in the first half was a season high by an opponent.

Vincent has also been a part-time starter for the Heat, and Miami was one of the teams concerned that those 50-game appearance limits on the active roster was fast approaching. Ad“We all appreciate that they see that each team is in a different place,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. The rule in past years has been that two-way players could spend 45 days with the NBA club and the rest of the time with a franchise’s G League team. But with a shortened G League season this year, and not all teams having clubs in that league this season, there were obvious reasons to change things. We are just glad that it was seen that way, objectively, because not everybody is in the same circumstance.”___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, right, tries to pass as Miami Heat guard Gabe Vincent defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021, in Los Angeles. The Heat even kept it together to pull out a win over the defending NBA champions despite a fourth quarter that nearly went wrong. Nunn scored 27 points, Jimmy Butler had 24 points and eight rebounds, and Miami held off the Los Angeles Lakers 96-94 Saturday night in an NBA Finals rematch. Kyle Kuzma scored 23 points while hitting four 3-pointers, and Montrezl Harrell had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers. ... Goran Dragić missed his eighth straight game with a sprained left ankle.

Miami Heat players Udonis Haslem, left, talks to Jimmy Butler during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021, in Miami. The Miami Heat aren’t believing that quite yet — even after a disastrous start to the 2020-21 campaign. “Heat Nation, we are going to figure this out,” All-Star center Bam Adebayo said. AdThe year after losing the finals has not been kind to the most recent teams who have dropped the title series. Tyler Herro missed seven games with neck spasms.

Miami Heat's Gabe Vincent (2) defends against Brooklyn Nets' Kevin Durant (7) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Jan. 23, 2021, in New York. Kevin Durant scored 31 points, Kyrie Irving took over late and had 28 and the Nets overcame Adebayo's career-high 41 points to beat the Miami Heat 128-124 on Saturday night. Irving helped pull the Nets through with 12 points in the final 5:48 after the Heat had erased nearly all of an 18-point deficit. Adebayo beat the buzzer with a jumper, than Miami opened the fourth with a 13-0 run to get within 96-95. Irving, Harden and Durant quickly combined for eight straight points but Adebayo kept coming, and the Nets needed a couple of clutch baskets from Irving and late free throws to pull it out.