Heat 109, Celtics 101: LeBron James had 20 points and nine assists as Miami welcomed back most of its starters and easily handled visiting Boston.

Dwyane Wade (knee) scored 11 points in his return from a six-game absence and Chris Bosh had 17 after sitting out three straight. Even with the “big three” in the lineup, the Heat used the reserves extensively and got 52 points off the bench, including 19 from Rashard Lewis, in their fifth straight win.

Jeff Green scored 25 points and Jordan Crawford added 20 for the Celtics, who sat Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to rest ankle injuries.

Boston jumped out to a quick lead and was up by 10 points by the end of the first quarter. Miami stuck with its reserves at the beginning of the second and came back to take a 41-40 lead on Norris Cole’s 3-pointer, which highlighted an 18-6 burst.

The Heat took a 58-50 lead into the half and stretched it out to 72-60 on Bosh’s layup with 7:05 left in the period. They went up by as much as 97-81 when James found Allen for a 3-pointer with 5:56 left and coasted to the finish.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Celtics are three games up on the Milwaukee Bucks for the No. 7 seed with three to play. … Green suffered a bruised elbow in the fourth quarter. He fell hard on his left arm after a dunk and did not return to the game. … The lone regular starter to sit out for Miami was Udonis Haslem (ankle), who missed his second straight contest.