RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

MIAMI (AP) _ Miami wasn't the best place for the Boston Celtics to seek a solution for their road woes.

The Miami Heat, annoyed by the Celtics' tendency in prior Heat-Celtics games to talk trash, raced to a 25-point lead in the first half and won 115-89 Tuesday night.

``When you go on the road, you can't get off to the slow starts like we did tonight,'' Boston's Antoine Walker said. ``That puts too much pressure on you to play perfectly the rest of the game.''

The Celtics are 15-6 at home, but their 4-16 road record is the worst in the Atlantic Division. Their only road victory against a team that has a winning record came in the season opener at Toronto.

The Heat's most lopsided win since March 1999 ended Boston's recent run of success against them. The Celtics has won four of the past five games in the series.

``There had been a little trash-talking in the losses we had against them, and guys had that in the back of their minds,'' Heat forward P.J. Brown said. ``That was the reason for the intensity. You've got to do more than what they're doing to be trash-talking. They've got a long way to go.''

Celtics coach Rick Pitino declined to blame the rout on the absence of two injured starters, Paul Pierce and Adrian Griffin.

``The Miami Heat played a great game,'' Pitino said. ``Obviously we did not. Our defense was not what you expect it to be in order to win on the road. Our defense was very porous.''

Pierce, who sat out because of a strained left hamstring, said he may play tonight at Orlando. Griffin is on the injured list with a sprained ankle.

Miami won without starting guard Dan Majerle, who went on the injury list before the game. He's expected to be sidelined six weeks with a stress fracture in his left fibula.

Voshon Lenard scored 21 points and Alonzo Mourning 20 for the Heat, who shot 55 percent, including nine of 13 3-pointers. Miami's starters played only half the game and took the fourth quarter off.

The Celtics missed 13 consecutive shots early in the second quarter, which allowed the Heat to score 16 points in a row, their longest run of the season. That gave Miami a 47-22 lead.

The margin was 59-39 at halftime, and Boston was never closer than 18 points after that.

Miami coach Pat Riley said the series has become a heated rivalry, in part because of verbal feuding that he professes to dislike.

``There was not much going on tonight, I'll tell you that,'' Riley said. ``Both teams came to play. We didn't talk much. We just played and got the win.''

Otis Thorpe had a season-high 17 points in 18 minutes for the Heat, who had lost 10 of their past 20 games and cling to a one-game lead in the Atlantic Division.

``The schedule is telling,'' Riley said. ``We've got a lot of good teams coming up, and it's time to start putting something together.''

Miami's Tim Hardaway, playing in his third game since returning from a knee injury, had eight assists and one turnover in 22 minutes. Tim James, the Heat's first-round draft pick last year, made his NBA debut and scored four points in seven minutes.

Walker led Boston with 28 points.

Notes: Boston guards Calbert Cheaney, Kenny Anderson and Doug Overton were a combined 3-for-23. ... Only Dallas has been to the free-throw line less than the Heat, who are averaging 22 attempts per game. ... The Celtics fell to 2-12 when trailing on the road after one period. ... Miami improved to 11-0 when shooting at least 50 percent. ... Mourning has scored at least 20 points in seven consecutive games.