Jimmy Butler's 35 points and a scorching third quarter propelled the eighth-seeded Miami Heat to a 123-116 victory over the Celtics on Wednesday in game one of the NBA Eastern Conference finals in Boston.

The Heat erased a 13-point second-quarter deficit to snatch home court advantage from the Celtics, out-scoring Boston 46-25 in the third period to seize control.

Jayson Tatum, the 51-point hero of Boston's game-seven victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday, scored 30 points, but he coughed up two crucial turnovers in the final minutes as the Heat turned the defensive screws.

Butler added five rebounds, seven assists and six steals. Bam Adebayo scored 20 points with eight rebounds and five assists and Max Strus, Gabe Vincent, Caleb Martin and Kyle Lowry each scored 15 points for Miami.

"Just shows the group of guys we have," Butler told broadcaster TNT of the strong, balanced effort. "So many different guys step up in so many different ways, night-in, night-out, we've been doing it all year."

Once again Butler got off to a hot start, his 12 first-quarter points marking his seventh game of these playoffs with a double-digit first period.

But it was a back-and-forth battle, neither team leading by more than four points in a first quarter that featured 13 lead changes and ended with the Celtics up 30-28.

Tatum heated up in the second quarter as the Celtics pushed their lead to as many as 13 points before taking 66-57 lead into the break.

Boston out-scored Miami 40-16 in the paint in the first half, Marcus Smart keeping their aggressive offense clicking with 10 first-half assists — tying his career high for a half.

Robert Williams was among four Celtics players to score in double figures before halftime and his four offensive rebounds helped account for the Boston's 11-2 advantage in second-chance points.