MIAMI — Before the Celtics faced the Heat on Thursday night, coach Joe Mazzulla was asked about the development of Anfernee Simons, who has thrived in an unfamiliar sixth-man role this season.
Mazzulla said when Simons played for the Trail Blazers, he knew his role and his plays and his substation patterns, and he pointed out that when he arrived in Boston this summer to play for just the second team of his career, it was essentially a restart.
“Kind of a great job of adapting to the unknown,” Mazzulla said. “His sub pattern changes, the play calls may change depending on the lineups and coverages, and he does a great job of handling that.”
Then Simons took the court and looked quite comfortable. On a night leading scorers Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard combined to make just 11 of 35 shots, Simons revitalized the Celtics with an offensive eruption. The guard scored a season-high 39 points, helping the Celtics wipe away a 19-point deficit to secure a 119-114 win.
Brown finished with 27 points, to help the Celtics snap a two-game losing skid. Norman Powell had 24 points to lead the Heat, who made just 5 of 19 3-pointers in the second half.
The Celtics trailed, 93-78, before Simons scored 9 points during a 13-2 run that stretched into the opening minutes of the fourth. But he was not finished.
During a 90-second stretch he hit a 3-pointer from the left arc, converted a driving layup, and drilled an 11-foot fadeaway that pulled the Celtics within 100-98 with 5:50 left. After a timeout, Simons drew two defenders and found Sam Hauser, whose 3-pointer gave the Celtics their first lead since 4-3.
Simons added another 3-pointer more than 30 seconds later, delighting the Celtics fans who were once again a noticeable presence here.
When the Celtics finally cooled off, they returned to the formula that kept them afloat during their challenging first half. Two offensive rebounds on one trip led to a pair of White free throws, and then two more kept another possession alive until Sam Hauser soared in for a third on a tip-in that made it 113-107 with 1:37 to play.
White lost the ball out of bounds on the Celtics’ first possession, and that was a harbinger for the rest of the half. Boston had four turnovers in the first six minutes, and nine in the half.
The Celtics led, 4-3, when the Heat seized control with a 15-0 run that was capped by an Andrew Wiggins alley-oop.
Adebayo took over soon after. He hit two 3-pointers and converted a 3-point play over a 90-second stretch. A Brown turnover led to a Norman Powell 3-pointer that gave the Heat a 27-9 lead, their largest of the half, with 5:49 left in the first quarter.
Brown, who returned after missing Monday’s 98-96 loss to the Pacers because of back spasms, started this season playing at an MVP level, but in recent days he has garnered the most attention for publicly voicing his frustrations with officials.
On Thursday, he played one of his more uneven first halves of the season. He had a team-high four turnovers over just 12 minutes and went 3 for 9 from the field, without an assist.
When coach Joe Mazzulla called timeout with 7:14 left in the second quarter, he took Brown out of the game, and did not put him back the rest of the half.
Meanwhile, the team’s other primary scorers, Payton Pritchard and Derrick White, combined to go 0 for 6 from the field in the first half.
The Celtics lingered thanks to the shooting of Anfernee Simons, who had 13 first-half points off the bench, as well as a remarkable run of offensive rebounding. The Celtics grabbed rebounds on 11 of their 26 missed shots in the first half and held a massive 22-7 edge in second-chance points.
Luka Garza had 11 first-half points and 3 offensive rebounds and Jordan Walsh snagged three as well. That work helped the Celtics go to the break trailing just 64-54, a manageable deficit, despite the quiet starts for their three stars.
Brown was back to start the third quarter and he played the entire period. Most of the offense ran through him. He attempted 10 shots and had seven free throws during his 15-point quarter, but also committed another turnover along with three fouls, one of which came on a Wiggins 4-point play. That was one of two times Boston fouled a 3-point shooter in the period.
The Heat led, 93-78, when Simons closed the quarter with a personal 5-0 run, and with Brown on the bench to start the fourth, Simons’s momentum carried over. Consecutive layups capped an 13-2 run and pulled Boston within 95-91 with 9:04 left.
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