Halftime stars, studs and duds: Thomas leads Celtics second quarter surge

BOSTON – It was a ragged, inconsistent first half for the Boston Celtics.

But they did just enough near the end to take a 52-48 lead into the half.

Trailing 42-35, the Celtics closed out the half with a 17-6 run to take the lead.

And not surprisingly, it was Isaiah Thomas doing most of the scoring for the Celtics.

Boston’s leading scorer was at it again, scoring 14 points during the team’s second quarter surge.

The way Boston took control in the final minutes of the second was in stark contrast to the first quarter which ended with a 25-all tie after Miami scored six of the last eight points in the quarter.

Boston and Miami went back and fourth most of the second quarter, but the Celtics seemed to find another gear at both ends of the floor in the final couple of minutes or so of play.

Here are the Stars, Studs and Duds from the first half of Friday night’s game.

 

STARS

Isaiah Thomas

Boston put together a strong surge at the end of the second quarter, with Thomas leading the way. He would lead all Celtics scorers at the half with 19 points.

Josh Richardson

He has been on a nice scoring tear of late despite the Heat’s struggles. He was at it again tonight, scoring nine points in the first half along with three rebounds.

 

STUDS

Al Horford

He did his part in the first half to rebound from a horrible performance at Cleveland on Thursday night. At the half he led the Celtics with nine points – three more than he scored against the Cavs last night.

Hassan Whiteside

His presence around the rim was definitely felt with the Celtics having to alter several shots at the rim. But he also chipped in five points and seven rebounds.

 

DUDS

Celtics defense

The Miami Heat came into tonight’s game ranked 26th in the NBA shooting 43.7 percent from the field. You wouldn’t have known it by the way guys were splashing shot after shot as if the Heat Big Three were back together. Boston closed out the half with a strong stretch defensively for the final three minutes or so which cooled the Heat’s shooting numbers down to a respectable 44.7 percent.