Negated in the effort was a 36-point outing from Jalen Brunson, which was perhaps the one thing that kept things at least somewhat respect before Tatum's oppressive onslaught—assisted by a 6-of-8 tally off the bench for Payton Pritchard—allowed Boston to create healthy distance and then some.

The All-Star forward led the Celtics in scoring as a part of a dominant performance by the team's starting five, which provided all but nine of Boston's points while helping to hold Miami to 33.7 percent shooting on the night.