Celtics advance to East semifinals

If this playoff run is about redemption for the Boston Celtics, it had to start with exacting some revenge against the Miami Heat.

A year ago, Miami embarrassed Boston in a Game 7 showdown at TD Garden.

This time, the Celtics returned the favor.

Jaylen Brown and Derrick White each scored 25 points and the Celtics advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals, beating the short-handed Heat 118-84 in Game 5 on Wednesday night.

Boston will face the winner of the Cleveland-Orlando series. The Cavaliers lead 3-2, with Game 6 in Orlando on Friday night.

Brown said they went into the game with a business-like approach.

“It is a lot of history, back and forth. But it didn’t matter who it was,” Brown said. “We just had to get the job done.”

That was echoed by teammate Jayson Tatum.

“I think this is my fourth time playing them in playoffs,” Tatum said. “They all count the same . ... We did our job. We took care of business.”

Brown also had six assists, and White hit five 3-pointers. Sam Hauser added 17 points and Tatum had 16 points and 12 rebounds, The top-seeded Celtics never trailed and led by 35 points.

Bam Adebayo scored 23 points and Tyler Herro had 15 for Miami, which made its first exit from the playoffs prior to the conference finals since 2021. The Heat struggled throughout, going 3 of 29 from 3-point range.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said it was clear early that the Celtics were playing with some extra energy from the opening tap.

“They probably had something to motivate them even more against us,” he said.

Boston played for the first time this postseason without center Kristaps Porzingis after he strained his right calf in the Celtics’ Game 4 victory. His teammates filled in the gaps, as the Celtics’ lead reached 30 points in the first half.