Category: Boston Celtics Blog

LeBron James has walked off the court here too many times with nowhere to go except summer vacation.

The destination this time: Game 7 in Miami, with a spot in the NBA finals on the line.

James had 45 points and 15 rebounds, overwhelming the Boston Celtics and leading the Heat to a 98-79 victory Thursday night that forced a decisive game in the Eastern Conference finals.

After two days of questions about the Heat’s future and his own history, James provided his response in resounding fashion in a building where Miami had lost 15 of its previous 16 games, and where his season had twice come to an end…

James shot 19 of 26 from the field and finished four points shy of his playoff career-high while playing 45 minutes, not sitting down until the victory was long secured…

Dwyane Wade added 17 points for the Heat, who need a victory at home Saturday night to return to the NBA finals. And if James plays like this again, Miami should have no problem getting it…

Rajon Rondo had 21 points and 10 assists for Boston. Kevin Garnett and Brandon Bass each scored 12 points, but Paul Pierce had only nine on 4-of-18 shooting…

James’ first basket of the third quarter increased the lead to 17 points, and from there it was just a matter of coming up with another score any time the Celtics tried to make a run.

Boston never came close, and when a 3-pointer by Shane Battier made it 81-63 with 10:19 to play, Rivers spent part of a timeout standing alone on the court with his arms folded, leaving it to the players to try to come up with an answer that wasn’t there.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Led by James’ brilliance, the Heat shot 48.7 percent from the field and 43.8 percent from three-point range. The Heat led by double figures throughout the second half, and its largest lead was 25 points.

“[James] was absolutely fearless [Thursday night], and it was contagious,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “No one likes getting dirt thrown on your face before you’re even dead.”

The Heat outrebounded the Celtics 44-34, with Udonis Haslem (nine) and Wade (eight) pulling down more boards than Boston’s rebounding leader — Brandon Bass, who had seven. Boston was 1 of 14 from three-point range, and Paul Pierce had just nine points on 4-of-18 shooting. Rajon Rondo led Boston with 21 points and 10 assists but committed seven turnovers.

Once again, Wade wasn’t himself to begin the game, but once again he played well in the fourth quarter. He started the game with four points in the first half and was 1 of 6 from the field in the first quarter. But, while he might be playing with an injured knee, he still had enough left in reserve to give the Heat a boost in crunch time.

— Reported by Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald

The Heat’s heart and LeBron James’ ability to take control were loudly called into question after Game 5. But after so many dismal results in this city, the Heat star had to love the sight of Garden fans heading for the exits with seven minutes still left.

Miami finally found a way to puncture the local balloon with last night’s 98-79 win over the Celtics, tying the series at 3-3 and sending the Eastern Conference finals back to Miami for tomorrow night’s very precarious Game 7.

Just when most had written off this team as an underachieving casualty, James uncorked one of the greatest playoff performances by an opponent in Garden history.

James had metronomic precision in a 45-point, 19-for-26, 15-rebound performance that included a 30-point first half and an 11-point third quarter.

His teammates, especially Dwyane Wade, took it from there with a 15-3 run over the first five minutes of the fourth quarter that quickly pushed the Miami lead north of 25 points.

— Reported by Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald

Rajon Rondo sparked the Celtics with 21 points and 10 assists but also had 7 turnovers. No other Celtic starter was able to get into the offensive flow. Brandon Bass and Kevin Garnett totaled 12 points, Ray Allen had 10 points, and Paul Pierce went 4 for 18 from the floor and totaled 9 points.

The Celtics were 1 for 14 on 3-pointers, the one make the result of impressive ball movement as Keyon Dooling found a wide-open Allen. That cut the deficit to 30-23 with 9:41 left in the opening half.

But Miami took a timeout and upped the lead to 13 a little more than a minute later.

The Celtics’ small lineup rallied within 69-59 late in the third quarter, then Garnett reentered for the final two minutes of the quarter. But Garnett did not make an impact on this contest, the Heat soon increasing its advantage to 25 points in the final quarter.

— Reported by Frank Dell’Apa of the Boston Globe

A week ago, the Boston Celtics were too old.

Three games later, they’re one win away from the NBA finals.

And Miami – the team that was constructed with hopes of supplanting Boston as the power in the Eastern Conference – is suddenly in big trouble.

Kevin Garnett finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds, Paul Pierce scored 19 – including a huge 3-pointer over LeBron James’ outstretched arm with 52.9 seconds left – and the Celtics beat the Heat 94-90 on Tuesday night, taking a 3-2 lead in the East finals that now shift to Boston for Game 6 on Thursday night.

”We’ve done nothing,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. ”We’re playing a heck of a basketball team. So just because we’re going to Boston, I told them, we have to play. They’re not going to give it to us. We have to go get it.”

James finished with 30 points and 13 rebounds for Miami, though he went 8 minutes without scoring in the final quarter. Dwyane Wade scored 27 for the Heat, who got no more than nine from anyone else.

”We wouldn’t want to be in this situation but we never get too high or too low in a series,” James said. ”We had an opportunity to come home and take a lead, but we didn’t. So we have to go up to Boston and win a game.”

— Reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press

But these Celtics at this moment have been valiant and worthy Heat adversaries.

They didn’t play particularly well in Game 5, but nevertheless won. Boston didn’t get a lead until the final minute of the third quarter, which ended with the Celtics holding a 65-60 lead on the strength of a 15-1 closing run. That advantage evaporated quickly enough, but Boston carved its way back.

“We just hung around enough to get to the fourth quarter,” said Rivers.

Boston’s poor shooting – Pierce, Allen and Rondo were a combined 11-of-43 – didn’t matter in the end, mostly because Garnett was so good.

“He’s our life,” Rivers said. “We’re a close-knit team. We have a lot of positive talk in our locker room.”

— Reported by Greg Stoda of the Palm Beach Post

Paul Pierce hit arguably the biggest shot of the game Tuesday night, a 3-pointer over LeBron James that gave the Celtics a 90-86 lead with 53 seconds left in the fourth quarter of Game 5. But Celtics coach Doc Rivers said he wasn’t totally thrilled with the shot selection.

“I kind of wanted him to drive, honestly,” said Rivers. “I’ve been around Paul long enough. Right when he gets into the footwork, you knew he was going to shoot it. At least I did, because I’ve seen him enough.

“I didn’t know if I wanted that shot. Honestly, I thought he was going to drive it, but he made it. That’s what players like Paul do. It really is. He’s a big shot-maker. He always has been.”

— Reported by Gary Dzen of Boston.com

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

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

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

Kevin Garnett had 24 points and 11 rebounds and Rajon Rondo scored 21 points with 10 assists to lead the Boston Celtics to a 101-91 victory over the Heat in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals on Friday night, cutting Miami’s lead in the series to 2-1.

Game 4 is Sunday night in Boston.

Paul Pierce scored 23 points for Boston.

LeBron James scored 34 points, but the NBA MVP and the rest of the Heat went cold during a 7-minute stretch at the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the second, when Boston outscored them 15-0 to turn a six-point deficit into a nine-point lead.

James scored 16 points in the first quarter but had just four points with one rebound and one assist in the fourth, when Miami cut a 24-point deficit to eight. Mike Miller hit consecutive 3-pointers during an 11-0 run that cut the deficit to 95-87.

Miami still trailed by eight points, with the ball, when Dwyane Wade missed and Ray Allen grabbed the rebound, sending Rondo on a fast break that made it a 99-89 with 99 seconds to play. James threw the ball away underneath, then missed a 3-point attempt the next time down – one of only four shots he took in the fourth quarter.

Pierce found Garnett for a long jumper at the other end, and the teams began emptying their benches.]

— Reported by Jimmy Golen of the Associated Press

Kevin Garnett scored a team-high 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting and added 11 rebounds as the Celtics made an effort to establish him around the basket early and it aided them in building as much as a 24-point lead. Rajon Rondo added 21 points, 10 assists and 6 rebounds, while Paul Pierce kicked in 23 points despite just 7-of-21 shooting over 40 minutes. Boston shot 50 percent (38-of-76) from the floor and dominated on the glass, outrebounding Miami 42-32. LeBron James scored a game-high 34 points on 16-of-26 shooting, but was a bit quiet after a big first quarter. Dwyane Wade chipped in 18 points on 9-of-20 shooting.

A James jumper with 2:15 to play in the first quarter had the Heat out front by six at 28-22, but the Heat would go scoreless for the next 6:47 spanning into the second frame. A 15-0 burst had the Celtics out front 37-28 after a Garnett layup. Despite shooting a mere 27.8 percent (5-of-18) in the second quarter, the Heat stuck around a bit before a 3-pointer by Ray Allen right before the half pushed Boston’s lead to a first-half high 13 points (55-42) and prevented Miami from stealing away any momentum. Boston extended its lead in the third quarter with Garnett on the floor, then held on for dear life as Miami trimmed that 24-point cushion to single digits late in the fourth quarter.

Looking eager to upstage Rondo on the heels of his 44-10-8 effort in Game 2, James came out firing. Not only did he put up 12 shots, but he connected on seven as part of a 16-point first-quarter outburst. It could have been worse; he missed 3 of 4 free throws. The Heat shot 61.1 percent (11-of-18) in the first quarter, but Boston hung around at 60 percent shooting (12-of-20) and actually led 30-28 after the first 12 minutes.

— Reported by Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston

Boston got an unexpected spark off the bench late in the first quarter when Doc Rivers called upon the seldom-used Marquis Daniels.

He only scored two points, but his activity on defense and all-around hustle seemed to be just the spark the Celtics were desperately needing.

And defensively, he was actually able to do something none of his teammates have done up to this point in the series – slow down LeBron James.

After making seven of his first nine shots, Daniels’ defense was instrumental in James missing three of his next four shots.

— Reported by A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE

LeBron finished with 34 points, but that came with a strange asterisk. He had 16 in the first quarter, and it looked like the start of something good for the Heat. Instead, it represented something else.

His teammates stood around watching him. The offense became him only. Wade, as is happening regularly, couldn’t get going in the first half. He had an inefficient six points on nine shots.

And, let’s face it, when Wade isn’t joining LeBron on a big night the Heat has little chance. Wade finished with 18 points, but the game had drifted away from the Heat before most of them mattered.

It was more than that, though. Wade and LeBron had 35 free-throw shots in Game 2 — a fact Boston loudly pointed out between games. They had five Friday night.

— Reported by Dave Hyde of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel