Miami @ Boston preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 10, 2019 ) Boston 99, Miami 115

The Boston Celtics are on a roller coaster of extremes of late, and the ride is currently on the way back up. The mercurial Celtics will try to record their second four-game winning streak this month - sandwiched around a three-game slide - when they begin a five-game homestand against the Miami Heat on Monday.

Kyrie Irving continued his hot stretch with 32 points and Boston rallied from eight points down in the fourth quarter to pick up a 113-105 victory in Atlanta on Saturday. "The first-half defense just wasn't very good," Celtics coach Brad Stevens told reporters after a game in which his team gave up 67 points before halftime. "Kyrie was special and he kept us in it." The Heat gave Boston its most lopsided defeat of the season in a 115-99 decision Jan. 10 at home, but they are just 1-2 thus far on their four-game road trip. Dwyane Wade fell three assists shy of a triple-double in his final game in his hometown as Miami won at Chicago 117-103 on Saturday.

TV: 6 p.m. ET, FS Sun (Miami), NBC Sports Boston

ABOUT THE HEAT (22-22): Wade was a big part of a bench that provided 64 points on 25-of-41 shooting in the win at Chicago, and the future Hall of Famer received several ovations along the way. "I wasn't coming off that floor until we got that win," Wade told the media. "We needed it. That's how I wanted to end my last game here. I didn't want to go out and score 30, that doesn't matter as much as getting a win for me, so that was important." Guard Josh Richardson scored a team-high 26 points after missing the previous contest due to an illness.

ABOUT THE CELTICS (28-18): Boston is waiting on a likely suspension for guard Marcus Smart, who was ejected in the third quarter Saturday before charging at Hawks forward DeAndre' Bembry and missing with a punch. "From what I saw, obviously, deserved to be ejected," Stevens told reporters after the game. "And, I don't know what was said. I haven't asked [Smart], I haven't talked to him about it, but, obviously there's league punishment for that type of stuff. Can't react that way." The Celtics were already shorthanded without forward Gordon Hayward, who stayed behind in Boston as he and his wife were expecting the couple's third child.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Irving is averaging 32.3 points on 61 percent shooting and 11.3 assists over a three-game span after missing one contest due to a quadriceps injury.

2. Heat SG Dion Waiters scored 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting at Chicago after producing a total of 15 points on 6-of-22 from the field over his previous four games.

3. The teams finish their four-game season series with a home-and-home April 1 in Boston and April 3 in Miami.

PREDICTION: Celtics 112, Heat 104