Rajon Rondo had 11 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists and the Boston Celtics used an early third-quarter surge to take command and post a third straight win over the Miami Heat this season, 85-82 Sunday afternoon in what could be a preview of the Eastern Conference finals.

Kevin Garnett had 19 points and nine rebounds for the Celtics (39-14), who moved one-half game ahead of the Heat (39-15) for the best record in the East.

Chris Bosh scored 24 points and LeBron James 21 for the Heat, who had an eight-game winning streak snapped. Dwayne Wade, who shot 6-of-28 in the first two Celtics games, had 16 points on 6-of-16 shooting.

Rondo scored seven points and added two assists as Boston opened the third with a 20-3 run to take a 59-46 lead with 6:45 left. Tempers flared during the stretch when Garnett leveled Mike Miller with a pick and Wade picked up a flagrant foul when he shoved Garnett in retaliation.

Miami used a late 16-6 run and had chance to tie when James was fouled driving to the basket with 12.5 seconds left, but he split his two free throws. Boston got two free throws from Glen Davis for a three-point lead with 6.3 seconds left and Miller missed a wide-open 3-pointer as time was running down.