MIAMI — The first truly hard foul of the game came about five minutes after tip-off, when Rajon Rondo wrapped his arms around LeBron James to thwart a fast break.

Fans immediately reacted angrily.

But by day’s end, that hit would seem like a mere love tap. And already, the Miami-Boston series is boiling over with emotion.

Dwyane Wade scored 38 points on 14-of-21 shooting, James Jones set a Miami postseason record with 25 points off the bench, and the Heat beat the Celtics 99-90 on Sunday to open their Eastern Conference semifinal series in a game marked by five technical fouls, one flagrant foul and the ejection of Boston’s Paul Pierce with 7 minutes remaining.

“We’re going to have to fight for every inch, every game we get,” Wade said. “Right now, we won Game 1. We’re supposed to. We’ll go back and focus on winning Game 2. We’re at home, we have home-court advantage. They’re just trying to come in and steal one like they’ve done in the past. So it’s our job to come out with the same mentality in the next one.”

Game 2 is Tuesday.

Within minutes of Sunday’s game ending, workers began turning AmericanAirlines Arena from a basketball facility into one that’ll get used Monday night for a professional wrestling card.

Seemed fitting after Sunday’s show.

There was plenty of hitting and jawing, even a spectacular leap from by one of the stars into the seats — yes, Wade dove headfirst into a sea of Heat fans behind the baseline in the final minutes, an attempt to save a ridiculously overthrown pass by Mario Chalmers.

Pierce wasn’t around to see that play.

He got a pair of technicals 59 seconds apart for taking too much exception to fouls by Jones and Wade, and pulled his jersey over his head on the way to the Boston locker room.

“We can’t worry about other players and if they want to throw dirty shots or anything like that,” Celtics forward Glen Davis said. “Yeah, we want to protect ourselves, stand up for ourselves, but at the same time we have to keep our composure and play the way we need to play.”

That didn’t happen with Pierce.

Jones fouled him hard — his arm ended up around Pierce’s neck — with 7:59 left, and Pierce got a technical for making contact with him after play had been stopped, crew chief Dan Crawford said. On Pierce’s second technical, he set a screen for Wade — who collided with him at nearly a full sprint.

Wade stepped toward Pierce, who Crawford said was guilty of a verbal taunt. That merited the second technical and ejection.