In Game 3, Lowry, Adebayo delivered

BOSTON — On the first possession of the game, Miami Heat point guard Kyle Lowry made a statement.

He snatched a rebound off a Boston Celtics miss and sped the ball up the court before finding Max Strus for an open 3-pointer.

Thus began an avalanche against a typically stolid Celtics defense. Miami’s dominant first quarter Saturday provided enough cushion to withstand Boston’s comeback and emotional in-game returns from Celtics players who had appeared to be seriously injured. But it was the return of two Heat stars that made possible Miami’s 109-103 win in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals.

The first star was Lowry, who had been absent for most of the playoffs because of a hamstring injury. The other was Bam Adebayo, who has only seemingly been absent from the series. Adebayo’s 16 points in the first half matched his combined total in Games 1 and 2. He finished Game 3 with 31 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.

“In the previous game, as everyone knows, they beat us like we stole something,” Adebayo said of Miami’s 25-point loss in Game 2. “That should wake anybody up.”

This has been an undoubtedly strange series. In 12 quarters, the Heat have outscored the Celtics only twice, yet they lead the series overall, two games to one. Those two quarters have been series-defining. The first was in the third quarter of Game 1, when the Heat outscored the Celtics 39-14. The other was in Saturday night’s opening frame, when the Heat jumped out to a 39-18 lead. The matchup has mostly featured wild swings and stretches of uncharacteristically poor defense from two teams that typically count that as a strength.

“The margin for error on either side is so small that you’ve just got to stay the course through all the emotions and the ups and downs,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

Lowry was a pest on defense, with heady play on offense and a calming influence, resembling the player he had been when he won a championship in 2019 with the Toronto Raptors. He finished with 11 points, six assists and four steals.

“No matter what happens, at the end of the day, if you put your heart out there and play hard, you’ve got to be happy and just live with the results, and that’s what we do,” Lowry said.