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The Celtics’ big lead gone and leading scorer along with it, Rajon Rondo had a message for Kevin Garnett.
”It’s time,” Rondo said. ”We have to take the game over.” …
Rondo had 15 points and 15 assists, and scored the final three points of the Celtics’ 93-91 overtime victory on Sunday night that evened the Eastern Conference finals at two games apiece.
Getting a huge break when LeBron James fouled out for the first time since joining the Heat, the Celtics recovered after blowing an 18-point lead in regulation and need two victories for a third trip to the NBA finals in five years.
Garnett added 17 points and 14 rebounds for the Celtics, while Paul Pierce scored 23 points before fouling out. Ray Allen finished with 16 points.
James had 29 points and Wade scored 20 after another dismal start for the Heat, who host Game 5 on Tuesday…
In a game that started as a Celtics blowout and turned into a foul- and tension-filled fourth quarter, followed by the second overtime in this series, the Celtics held on when Wade missed a potential winning 3-pointer on the last possession.
— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press
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Pierce committed his sixth personal, an offensive foul on a collision off the ball with Shane Battier with 4:22 left in overtime. Udonis Haslem’s dunk gave Miami a 91-89 advantage, but those would turn out to be the final Heat points.
Daniels replaced Pierce and hit a free throw, but then lost a rebound out of bounds after a Mario Chalmers miss. Garnett then defended a Chalmers drive, with Rondo scoring in transition.
Garnett then rebounded a James miss. Rondo misfired on a drive, and Pietrus drew James’s sixth personal with 1:51 left. Pietrus grabbed two offensive rebounds to extend a 65-second possession, and Garnett was off target with 46 seconds left.
Battier missed a 3-point try, Daniels drawing a foul on the rebound. Rondo drew a foul with 21.4 seconds left and missed the first free throw, but the second made it 93-91, the Heat calling a timeout.
Daniels fouled Dwyane Wade with 14 seconds left, the Heat calling a 20-second timeout. Rondo and Daniels switched onto Wade, who missed an open 3-pointer just before the buzzer.
— Reported by Frank Dell’Apa of the Boston Globe
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Wade finished with 20 points on 7 of 22 shooting and played the entire second half and overtime. Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 23 points before fouling out in overtime. Rondo had 15 points and 15 assists.
“I got a good look,” Wade said of his final shot. “It just didn’t go in.”
James drilled a three-pointer with 37.5 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 89-89. On the Celtics’ next possession, he forced a turnover when he absorbed a charge by Kevin Garnett. With 21.1 seconds left and the game tied, the Heat had time to draw up a potential game-winning play. Whatever coach Erik Spoelstra drew up went off script when James passed to Udonis Haslem at the buzzer, who air-balled a jump shot. James’ pass to Haslem was partially deflected.
“When he gets doubled, I come from the strong side and try to get in LeBron’s vision,” Haslem said. “I don’t think we would do anything differently. I we could, I would have probably pulled a little higher, so he could get a better passing angle.”
— Reported by Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald
