Boston Celtics secure overtime victory against Miami Heat to level the Eastern Conference Finals - Part 1
The Boston Celtics proved once again that they are still have a lot left in the tank and are worthy contenders in the Eastern Conference, with a 93-91 overtime victory over the Miami Heat in game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Celtics have now won both games on home court and have levelled the series at two games apiece.
With the possibility that the Big Three of the Celtics might be playing in the TD Garden for the last time, the Celtics played inspired basketball, dominating the Heat in the first half and then holding off a late Heat rally to
win the game in overtime.
Rajon Rondo once again shined as the leader of the Celtics, scoring the final three points of overtime to secure the victory for his team. He had 15 points and 15 assists on the night, and led his team on the court.
LeBron James had 29 points for Miami but was fouled out in overtime after committing his 6th personal foul. This was the first time since 2008 that James had been fouled out of the game. With James out of the game, Dwyane
Wade found it difficult to set up a play and his attempted game winning three pointer in overtime hit the back of the rim and bounced out to his disappointment. The Celtics have now tied the series after losing the first two games to Miami at the American
Airlines Arena.
Boston started the game strong and a 10-0 run gave them an 18-4 lead, charging the crowd in the TD Garden. Miami returned with a 9-0 run to reduce the lead to 21-15, but the Celtics were hot in the first period and ended the quarter
leading 34-23.
Back to back three pointers by Ray Allen and Keyon Dooling early in the 2nd period had the Celtics up 42-26. Dooling then hit another 3 pointer for Boston on the next possession, giving Boston a 45-28 lead. Another three
pointer near the end of the 1st half by Allen had Boston up 61-43, but Miami closed the half with 4 straight points to trail 47-61 at halftime.
The Celtics were hot in the first half, shooting 16 of their first 25 attempts from the field. The Heat could not manage a free throw till the 6:53 mark in the 2nd quarter. Wade was 2 of 11 from the field in the first
half.
The Celtics and Heat combined to miss the first six attempts from the field to open the third period, but a layup by Mario Chalmers finally put the first points of the 2nd half on the board for Miami.
The Heat picked up momentum in the third period, as Wade started finding his rhythm. The Heat went on a 12-4 run to cut the Celtics lead to 69-61, then closed the third period with 7 straight points to trail 73-68. A layup by LeBron
James with 8:54 remaining in the final period tied the game at 74.
The Heat had made a remarkable comeback and after being outplayed in the first half, had reduced the Celtics to only 12 points in the third quarter. A finger roll by Norris Cole put the Heat up 76-74, their first lead of the game.
Udonis Haslem scored on two free throw attempts to put Miami up 83-81 but Pierce’s layup tied the game at 83.
A layup by Garnett had the Celtics up 89-86 but James came up with a big three pointer to tie the game at 89 with only 37.5 seconds left in the game. Garnett committed a turnover on Boston’s next possession and Haslem missed Miami’s
game winning jump shot to send the game into overtime.
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