MIAMI (AP) – Simply because their postseason berth is secure wasn’t enough of a reason for the Miami Heat to lose their resiliency.

Miami erased a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit with a 15-2 burst, and remained solidly in contention for home-court advantage in the opening round of the Eastern Conference playoffs with a 104-101 win over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night.

Lamar Odom had 24 points and 10 rebounds for the Heat, who had six players in double figures, won their 10th straight home game and improved to 39-39 overall – their first time at the .500 mark since Nov. 6, 2001, a span of 238 games.

Boston’s Paul Pierce had 31 points, but missed what would have been a go-ahead 3-pointer with 10 seconds remaining. Miami controlled the rebound and Dwayne Wade made one free throw for what turned out to be the final margin.

Chucky Atkins’ desperation 3-pointer missed at the final buzzer.

Boston led 94-87 following a jumper by Pierce with 6:47 remaining, yet the lead quickly vanished. Wade hit a pair of free throws with 3:18 left to put Miami ahead for good at 97-96, and the lead stretched to 102-96 before the Celtics scored again.

Jiri Welsch’s long 3-pointer with 12.6 seconds left brought Boston to 102-101, but the Celtics got no closer.

Wade – playing with injured ribs and clearly lacking his usual explosiveness – had 10 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter for Miami. Eddie Jones and Udonis Haslem had 14 apiece for the Heat, who shot 37-of-43 from the foul line.

Ricky Davis had 22 points for Boston, which still has a two-game lead over Philadelphia for the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot. Both teams have four games remaining.

Atkins had 12 of his 16 points in the third quarter for the Celtics, who outscored Miami 31-19 in the period and pulled into an 80-all tie.

But they couldn’t finish the job and lost to the Heat for the first time in the teams’ last five meetings.

Miami used a 24-8 run in the second quarter to build what was a 15-point lead. Rafer Alston – who extended his streak of consecutive games with at least one made 3-pointer to 44 – had 10 points during that burst, which gave Miami a 50-35 lead with 4:22 left.

All told, the Heat put up 37 points in the second quarter and led 61-49 at halftime. But they shot 23.5 percent in the third quarter and the cushion quickly evaporated.

Boston forced Miami into missing eight of its first nine shots from the field in the second half and clawed all the way back, taking an 80-78 lead – its first since the game’s opening moments – when Welsch hit a pair of free throws with 20.0 seconds left in the third quarter.

Notes: Pierce was 10-for-10 from the foul line in the first half; his teammates were a combined 5-for-8. … Miami’s last 10-game home winning streak was in the 1999-2000 season. … Boston is 12-8 since acquiring Atkins from Detroit. … Defensive ends Adewale Ogunleye and Jason Taylor of the Miami Dolphins were part of the sellout crowd.