Celtics get back in the series
Rondo, Garnett and Pierce each score more than 20 points in Boston’s 101-91 victory over Miami.
BOSTON — This time neither the third quarter nor Lebron James could save the Miami Heat.
This time Dwyane Wade started slow and never fully found his stride.
This time the Boston Celtics got something from their bench, an equitable share of foul calls and something they seemingly always get against the Heat, a homecourt victory.
Shaking off Wednesday’s overtime loss at AmericanAirlines Arena and surviving a heat rally from 24 down in the fourth quarter, the Celtics returned to TD Garden and held on for a 101-91 victory Friday night to close the gap in these best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals to 2-1.
“They got us tonight,” Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We still have a golden opportunity and we know that.”
With James scoring 34 points but receiving little support through the first three quarters, the Heat went cold midway through the first half and never could fully recover from a 15-0 Boston burst that bridged the opening two periods.
“The difference was our defensive energy,” Celtics Coach Doc Rivers said.
And the Heat’s miserable foul shooting, this time 10 for 20 from the line, with Wade failing to get to the line in the playoffs for the first time since he was a rookie in 2004.
“We’ll be more aggressive,” Spoelstra said of James and Wade combining for a single point from the foul line Friday.
Unlike the previous games in the five-game winning streak the Heat carried into the night, there was no double-digit third-quarter dominance. Instead, up 5542 at halftime, the Celtics extended their lead to 84-63 going into the fourth quarter.
Wade, limited to two points in the first half of Game 2, this time scored only six over the opening two periods, often forced to ballhandle east-west instead of being able to gain a head of steam to the rim.
He closed with 18, the first time in 13 playoff games he failed to score 20 or more against the Celtics.
“They’ve been very aggressive trying to get the ball out of his hands,” Spoelstra said.
The upshot was the Heat’s 14th loss in its last 15 visits to the Garden, counting regular season and postseason. The lone breakthrough during that run was during last season’s playoffs, something the Heat hope to emulate Sunday in Game 4.
For the Celtics, not only were there 24 points from center Kevin Garnett and 23 from forward Paul Pierce, but enough of a boost from the bench to push to an early lead.
Rajon Rondo had 21 points and 10 assists for the Celtics a game after scoring 44 points.