NEW YORK – Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was an unhappy man after seeing the Boston Celtics hit 22 three-pointers to his side’s 12 in Game 1 of the National Basketball Association (NBA) first-round play-offs on April 21.

The Heat lost that clash in the Eastern Conference 114-94, and Spoelstra has been plotting revenge ever since.

On April 24, Miami unleashed a barrage of three-pointers of their own to score a series-leveling 111-101 upset over the top-seeded Celtics at their home court.

The eighth seeds, playing without injured star Jimmy Butler, produced a battling performance to tie the best-of-seven-series at 1-1 as the teams head back to Florida for Game 3 on April 27.

Tyler Herro led the Miami scoring with 24 points, part of a balanced offensive effort that saw all five Heat starters post double-digit points at TD Garden.

But the key to the victory was their accuracy from long range, with the Heat draining 23 three-pointers from 43 attempts compared to Boston’s 12 of 32 – one better than the Celtics’ 22 in Game 1.

“You have to take them (three-point shots), based on how they were playing us these first two games,” said Spoelstra.

“I did not want to get annihilated in that department like we did the game before. It was a very good response.”

Herro knocked down six threes, while Caleb Martin added five in his tally of 21 points. Bam Adebayo also finished with 21 points, while Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 14 and Nikola Jovic 11.

Boston were led by 33 points from Jaylen Brown, with Jayson Tatum finishing with 28 in a losing effort.

The win was all the more unexpected given Miami’s 20-point drubbing by Boston in Game 1 – something Herro said had motivated the Heat for Game 2.

“We lost badly in Game 1 and everybody responded tonight, and that’s all you can ask for,” he said, while revealing that he had been encouraged by Butler to take on a leadership role in the absence of the injured Miami talisman.

“Just before this series, JB texted me to take the team and you know... lead these guys, just make every right play. It’s not all about scoring, (in) the play-offs you gotta make the right play. Our guys showed up tonight.”

It was another trademark display of defiance from Miami, who are aiming to emulate their play-off run of last season when they reached the NBA Finals after entering the post-season via the play-in tournament.

“We don’t even want to mention last year, this year is a whole new year,” Herro said.

“We feel like we have a great group of guys. We’re not fully healthy, but we have guys who want to play and want to be out here making a difference.”

Boston star Tatum, meanwhile, said the Celtics had expected a backlash after their comfortable Game 1 victory.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Regardless... we’ve got a chance to play another one on Saturday – should be a fun one,” he said.

While the Eastern Conference top seeds were left licking their wounds, there were no such problems for Boston’s Western Conference counterparts Oklahoma City Thunder at Paycom Centre.

The Thunder took a commanding 2-0 lead against the eighth-seeded New Orleans Pelicans with a 124-92 thrashing.

They took the lead early in the first quarter and were in complete control throughout, holding a double-digit advantage from the second quarter onwards which reached 34 points at one stage late in the fourth quarter.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the scoring for Oklahoma City, finishing with 33 points.

The result was in stark contrast to Game 1, which went down to the wire before the Thunder prevailed 94-92.

“It’s a seven-game series, we’ve just got to take it day by day and try to get better every day,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.

“And that’s what we did tonight. We definitely had a better performance than we did in Game 1 and that’s our goal.” AFP