MIAMI -- A week ago, the Boston Celtics beat the Miami Heat with defence. This time, they did it with offence. Paul Pierce scored 27 points, Kevin Garnett added 24 points and nine rebounds, and the Celtics made their first eight shots of the fourth quarter to hold off the Heat 115-107 on Tuesday night. Rajon Rondo posted double-digit assists for the 18th straight game, extending the NBAs longest such streak in 20 years with an 18-point, 15-assist effort. Brandon Bass added 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Avery Bradley scored 11 for the Celtics, who shot a season-high 61 per cent and survived two possessions where Miami could have tied the score in the final quarter. "We talk about it in fighting terms," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "We told them today before the game, youre in a boxing match, you expect to get hit. Theyre going to hit you. They did and we withstood it. I thought that was important for our team." LeBron James finished with 36 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for Miami, which got 20 from Dwyane Wade and 18 from Mario Chalmers. Chris Bosh finished with 13 on 5-for-13 shooting for Miami, which has gone 5-5 in its last 10 games. The Celtics beat Miami 91-72 in Boston on April 1, a game the Heat called "unacceptable" after establishing season-lows in scoring and shooting. This one wont sit much better with the reigning Eastern Conference champions, who ousted the Celtics in five games from last years playoffs and could see them in the second round of the upcoming post-season. No team had shot better than 55 per cent against the Heat this season, and Bostons 115 points were two shy of matching a season-high against Miami. "We left Boston feeling awful at our performance," James said. "I dont feel as bad tonight. Those guys, they were locked in. Not only did they make their open shots, they made their contested shots. ... When youve got it going like that, just tip your hat off. We tip our hat off to them tonight. They won it." Boston improved to 18-7 since the All-Star break, and dealt Miami a blow in the race for the No. 1 seed in the East. The Heat fell three games behind Chicago after the Bulls beat the New York Knicks later Tuesday night. "It took a while," Rondo said, "but were peaking at the right time." A layup by Wade got Miami within 108-103 with 2:22 left, before Garnett made a high-arcing jumper that dropped softly through the net, his 11th make in 14 shots. That pretty much described the night. Whenever Miami got close, the Celtics found a way to hold them off. "Its a game of runs," Pierce said. "You have one of the best teams in the NBA at home. You know theyre going to make a run. Thats what makes them who they are. They know how to turn it on. We did a good job of holding their runs to a minimum." Miami had two shots to tie early in the fourth after being down by as many as 18 earlier, before Garnett made jump shots on four straight possessions, the average length of those makes being 19 feet. A 10-0 run early in the first quarter gave Boston a quick lead -- and that wasnt even the Celtics best run of the opening period. Boston scored the last 11 of the first, the run actually becoming 13-0 when Garnett scored to open the second quarter, and Bostons lead was 35-22. Everything the Celtics wanted, they got. Boston shot 61 per cent in the first quarter, 62 per cent in the second. Rivers used eight players, all of them making multiple shots by halftime. Of them, the only one who failed to make at least half his shots was Bass, who more than made up for that with six first-half rebounds. Heres how well the Celtics were shooting: Miami went into the break shooting 51 per cent from the field, 60 per cent from 3-point range and 78 per cent from the foul line -- and Boston was at least 10 percentage points better in every department. "None of us were expecting that," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "To give up 115 points on our home floor, thats not our style. And were being made to feel uncomfortable right now. Thats really the residual of the last three weeks or so. This is probably the one silver lining out of it, is our group, staff and players, were getting to know each other now on the level that is needed for us to prepare for the playoffs. "We all know we have to take a real big step forward as a basketball team," Spoelstra added. The next chance for that "big step" comes Thursday, when the Heat visit Chicago. Down by 18 in the first half, Miami cut the deficit to 65-57 at halftime. James closed it with a 3, punching the air as the shot dropped. Even with that, every moment of the second half was an uphill battle. And the Celtics werent being caught. Miami got within five twice in the third, with Rondo answering both times to make it a three-possession game again. The Celtics held the Heat to 36 per cent shooting in the quarter, keeping the eight-point lead entering the fourth at 89-81. The Heat had two chances to tie early in the fourth, after starting the period on a 7-0 run. The first of those slipped away when Bosh failed to finish off a three-point play opportunity by missing from the line. The next came when Udonis Haslem missed from the left baseline with 9:17 left, and Bostons answer that time was absolute. Allen made a catch-and-shoot 3 for a 94-89 lead, and then Garnett just took over. "When they shoot like that, its going to be tough to beat them," Wade said. "Obviously, we can always do things better. But give them credit." NOTES: Alex Terrio, a fan wearing a Heat T-shirt, won a 2012 Kia Optima for making a halfcourt shot in between the third and fourth quarters. "Shock," Terrio said. ... James had 11 points in the third quarter for the third consecutive game. ... Hall of Fame quarterbacks Dan Marino and Jim Kelly were at the game, as was Chicago Bears star Julius Peppers. David Njoku Youth Jersey . -- Adrian Peterson takes a look around the league and sees big money flying everywhere. Myles Garrett Browns Jersey . Arsene Wenger reportedly wants to convert the player into an attacking force, much like he did with Robin Van Persie. http://www.footballbrownsnflprostore.co ... ersey/.com) - Patrick Reed poured in a 19-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole Monday to defeat Jimmy Walker and win the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. Jabrill Peppers Jersey .com) - St. Louis Blues right wing Vladimir Tarasenko, Detroit Red Wings center Pavel Datsyuk and Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury have been selected as the NHLs top players for last week. Howard Wilson Youth Jersey . The top-ranked Spaniard won his fourth Madrid Open on Sunday after Kei Nishikori was forced to withdraw with a hip injury when trailing 2-6, 6-4, 3-0 in the final. And Nadal, who is coming off to uncharacteristic quarterfinal losses on clay, said his mental strength is still lacking just two weeks ahead of the French Open.LOS ANGELES -- Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Tuesday and is expected to be out four to six weeks. Ellis had a 20-minute operation performed by Dodgers physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache to repair the medial meniscus in his knee. Ellis is expected to rejoin his teammates on Wednesday and begin rehabilitation. The club recalled catcher Tim Federowicz from Triple-A Albuquerque and started him against Detroits Max Scherzer in the opener of a two-game interleague series. Drew Butera was Federowiczs backup. "A.J. is the kind of guy that from a preparation standpoint has been what weve asked -- to know what hes doing when he puts the fingers down, to know why, to understand our pitchers and all the matchups and everything else," manager Don Mattingly said. "We ask a lot of our catchers, and A.J. has bought into that. So were going to miss that, no question. But hes going to be back here tomorrow, and hes the kind of guy that will be doing everything to help Fed and Drew out and still be a part of what were doing. Ellis injured his left knee Saturday while rounding third base and trying to score from second on a single by Andre Ethier. Ellis underwent the same procedure on his left knee following the 2012 season. "I know he felt a misstep the other dayy and kind of felt it right then.dddddddddddd And it was really sore after that," Mattingly said. Ellis joined Clayton Kershaw, setup man Brian Wilson and Chad Billingsley on the disabled list, and Yasiel Puig sat out his second game because of a swollen left thumb. Puig was hurt when he made a headfirst slide into first base on an infield hit during Saturdays 7-2 loss to San Francisco. Federowicz appeared in 56 games with the Dodgers last season, hitting four home runs and driving in 16 runs, and he has played in 66 big league games with Los Angeles since making his big league debut in 2011. He was optioned to Albuquerque on March 22, but remained with the big club on its extended roster for the two-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Australia. Los Angeles kept Butera on the active big league roster because he could be sent to the minor leagues without clearing waivers -- unlike Federowicz. "I think it just tests our depth," Mattingly said. "We feel like Fed and Drew are capable to get through this stretch with out A.J., the same as our bullpen without Brian. We cant really say its going to be good getting through this stretch without Clayton, because theres nobody quite like him. But I do think were capable of winning games and doing what we have to do." Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '