Heat outlasts the Celtics
Rondo has 44 points, but it’s not enough as Miami takes 2-0 lead.
MIAMI 115 BOSTON 111 (OT)
MIAMI — At the outset, this hardly had the feel of a comeback for the ages. And it certainly didn’t at the end of regulation.
But against the aged, the Miami Heat survived fourth-quarter disaster and had the legs to pull it off, in what turned into a 115-111 overtime victory Wednesday night over the Boston Celtics at AmericanAirlines Arena that pushed the Heat to a 2-0 lead in these best-ofseven Eastern Conference finals.
“This group had resolve,” Heat guard Dwyane Wade said.
With resurgent Celtics guard Ray Allen hitting a three-point shot to tie it late in regulation and Heat forward LeBron James missing two shots at the end of the fourth quarter, the Heat had to go an extra five minutes.
It proved worth it, with the Heat now 6-0 all-time in playoff overtime.
It could have been far easier had the Heat made a few more free throws and had Wade not gambled for a steal on the fourth-quarter possession that allowed Allen to tie it, but Miami managed to survive on a night when point guard Rajon Rondo went for 44 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds for the Celtics.
“He was absolutely phenomenal,” Celtics Coach Doc Rivers said. “It’s tough to have him play that way
and not win the game.”
And tough to walk out of this one with a loss.
“You don’t throw it away. You hold it for 24 hours. And then you move on,” Rivers said. “We’ve been very good about that. It’s corny, but they’ve won two games at home and now we go to a place that we’re very comfortable in.”
James led the Heat with 34 points, supported by 22 from point guard Mario Chalmers and 23 from Wade. It is the third time the Heat have had three 20-point scorers in a playoff game and the 12th consecutive time Wade has scored 20 or more in the playoffs against the Celtics.
Down 15 in the second period, the Heat mounted the largest playoff comeback in the franchise’s 24 seasons.
The Heat was at its best in the third quarter, using a 12-0 run as part of a 21-8 close to the period. While Wade scored 12 in the third and James 11, the energy behind the charge was provided by reserve forward Udonis Haslem, who contributed seven points and six rebounds in the period. He closed with 13 points and 11rebounds.
Rondo put the Celtics up at the start of overtime on a driving layup, but Wade swept in for a dunk to tie it, missing a bid for a threepoint play when his free throw rimmed out, dropping the Heat to 25 for 40 from the line. The Heat finished 31 for 47 on free throws.
Rondo and Haslem traded baskets to make it 103-103.
But with 2:16 left in the extra period, Rondo, who played all 53 minutes, made two free throws for a 105-103 lead.
James scored on a tip-in of a Haslem miss to make it 105-105. The Heat then went ahead on a Haslem jumper. After a Kevin Garnett turnover, the Heat got a driving layup from Wade to put it away.
Wade completed a threepoint play with a free throw that put Miami ahead 110-105 with 59.7 seconds left.
Garnett then shot an airball three-pointer, and it was over.
Again dominant at the start of a second half, the Heat stormed back on a night Wade had just two first-half points.
The Heat not only was able to withstand some of the best that Rondo and Celtics forward Paul Pierce had to offer, but also a night when Allen regained his stroke.
Pierce closed with 21 points, fouling out late in regulation. Allen went five for 11from the field.