MIAMI – The Heat have enjoyed many memorable moments since introducing their “White Hot” campaign for the 2006 playoffs.

Derrick White’s performance in Game 4 of the first round is one Miami would rather forget.

The Celtics guard was the uncontested hero of the first quarter, and ultimately, the 102-88 victory and a 3-1 series lead. White finished with 38 points, eight threes, and three blocks. According to StatMuse, he’s the first player in Celtics history to reach those numbers in a playoff game.

White. Hot.

“I’m thankful, I’m happy,” White said. “Could score zero points if we win, so that’s really the important part.”

The first quarter was a different kind of battle than that of Game 3, which Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla described the first frame as a “rock fight.” Boston’s offense went MIA in Miami during the first quarter. Kristaps Porzingis’ only four points in the frame were via free throws, as were Jayson Tatum’s first two, which came in just under the two-minute mark.

Jrue Holiday got Boston on the board with a pair of free throws – Bam Adebayo began the game by immediately fouling him – before the Heat took their first home-court lead of the series on a three-pointer by Nikola Jovic.

Their only lead, as it turned out.

“Can we start off every game essentially punching first and not reacting?” Jayson Tatum challenged after Game 3.

White punched first and kept punching. He’d finished Game 3 with 16 points in 30:53 of play, a total he matched in his first 8:50 on Monday. He was 6-for-8 from the field and 4-for-5 from deep in the first. When the Heat called for a timeout with just under five minutes left, 13 of Boston’s 23 points belonged to the guard. When Mazzulla called for a timeout with 2:20 left in the quarter, no other Celtic had contributed more than five points to the 29-18 score, and that remained the case when they ended the frame leading 34-24.

“(The Heat) tried to play a faster-paced game and dictate the pace of the game, which I thought we did a good job of matching,” Mazzulla said. “And when we play a little bit faster, it just creates opportunities for everybody, and so I thought our defense kind of led to our offense, and Derrick made some big plays for us. He was aggressive early in possessions, was coming off stops, pushing the pace.”

“I got a couple good looks early, and the team did a great job of just finding me and empowering me to stay aggressive,” White said.

The second quarter was another low-scoring Celtics affair until the last minute. It took Boston more than half the frame to tack on seven points. White began Q2 on the bench, but after subbing in at 9:44, and missing his first two shots, he had his second block and made back-to-back threes, bringing his scoring total to 22 points in 15:46. His six threes before halftime were the most by a Celtic in the playoffs since Ray Allen in the 2010 NBA Finals.

With 0:50 to go before halftime, Tatum buried a three, his first points of the quarter. Al Horford’s dunk got him on the board and gave the Celtics a 53-36 lead at the break.

Yet the game felt much closer, because the Celtics were looking at playing the second half without Porzingis, who’d exited with right-calf tightness and was doubtful to return. With just over three minutes left on the clock before the half, the Latvian center grabbed at his right leg and began to limp. He immediately called for a sub and limped to the locker room, hitting himself on the head in frustration and pulling his jersey up around his head. (Mazzulla opened his postgame availability by saying he still didn’t have an update on Porzingis’ condition.)

Without Porzingis for the remainder of the contest, the Celtics found other ways. “I thought everybody just stepped it up,” Mazzulla said. “I thought Al (Horford) was tremendous.”

After a quiet first half, Jaylen Brown came out of the break on something of a tear, adding to the Celtics’ total with a layup and when Tyler Herro turned over the ball, Brown immediately sunk a three to put his scoring in the double digits.

By the end of the third, White had taken the blowout volcano from smoking to erupting. After a turnover and his second personal foul, he dunked back-to-back, then followed up Brown’s dunk with a three and a layup. Once Tatum made a pair of free throws, a jumper brought White up to 33 points.

Tatum (20 points, 11 rebounds) and Brown (17 points, five rebounds) had, by their usual standards, quieter nights on offense but didn’t let their combined 12-for-32 from the field deter them from contributing in other facets of the game.

“I thought both of them throughout the game, their defense was at a high level regardless of what was going for them on the offensive end,” Mazzulla said.

“It’s great to be on to be on a team like this that is deep and talented on both ends of the floor, that any given night, can have a guy like (White) erupt,” Tatum said.

But as was the case in Game 3, the Celtics couldn’t quite contain Bam Adebayo, who again led Heat scoring with 25 points and 17 rebounds. He put up six points in the first, punctuated with a massive dunk ten seconds before the buzzer signaled the end of the quarter.

And when the Heat made things interesting late in the fourth, going on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 13, their center went for a low blow. With just over five minutes left on the clock, Tatum fired off a shot, and Adebayo shoved him in the stomach as he landed awkwardly. The Celtics star fell to the floor and stayed down, clutching his left ankle.

“I was mad,” Tatum said of what through his mind while he lay on the court.

The usually even-keeled Al Horford was livid as well, and loudly urged the officials to review. Adebayo was handed a flagrant foul, Patty Mills a personal, and Horford a technical.

“I think it’s important,” Mazzulla said of the mild-mannered Horford getting fired up. “Our boys are showing passion and emotion.”

Adebayo and head coach Erik Spoelstra were furious, and the Celtics were undeterred. Tatum sunk both his flagrant free throws, and White (layup, three), Brown (jumper), and Horford (dunk) hammered the final nails in Miami’s coffin.

“We were able to execute down the stretch and kind of keep them at bay,” White said.

Thousands of Heat fans missed the chaos of the final quarter; they’d had begun their exodus several minutes earlier.

In other words, they waved the White flag.