LeBron James roars as the Miami Heat beat the Boston Celtics again - Part 1
The Big Three of the Miami Heat combined for 80 points as they beat the Boston Celtics 102-91 in game-2 of their Eastern Conference semi-final series. The Heat have now taken a 2-0 lead in the series and have put themselves in a very strong position to qualify for the finals. The Boston Celtics were in contention for much of the game, but a strong finish from Miami left them staring at a second defeat in three days.
After the game Celtics coach Doc Rivers urged his team to move on quickly and prepare for the next game, "Nothing we can do about it," Rivers said. "We've got a third game and we've got to take care of that. Whatever the past is, it is. They've won two games at home. But we can't allow them to play like this, or it's going to be tough at our place."
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, on the other hand, preached caution and asked his team to stay focused on the task ahead, "Now the mental discipline begins," Spoelstra said. "This thing is just getting started."
The Miami Heat were led by LeBron James who had game high 35 points. LeBron was hot all night and the Celtics failed to force even a single turnover from Miami’s ace forward. Dwyane Wade followed his explosive performance in game 1, with another stellar showing tonight as he had 28 points. Chris Bosh, the last element of Miami’s Big Three, posted a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
For the Celtics, Rajon Rondo shrugged off a balky back and a poor game-1, to score 20 points and dish out 12 assists. However, support was lacking from the rest of the cast as none of the Celtics had a big night. Kevin Garnett scored only 16 while Paul Pierce chipped in with 13. Ray Allen was particularly disappointing with just 7 points and a 2-of-7 shooting from long range.
The game got off to an even start as both teams traded shots. Heat’s Big Three were on song early as the bulk of their scoring came from the starters. It was a different story for the Celtics though, for the quarter as well as for the game. The Celtics Big three combined for just 9 in the first quarter. However, Jeff Green stepped in from the bench to hit 8 of his 11 points on the night, including two big 3s that kept the Heat in check. The quarter finished with a slender one point lead for the Heat at 27 – 26.
The 2nd quarter saw the Celtics struggle to put points on the board. They had 16 points against 20 from Miami, half of which came from Dwyane Wade. The Heat took a seven point lead, when Wade hit a three to take the scores to 40-47, with just 3.8 seconds left in the half. However, 2 free throws from Rondo cut their lead to five before the teams headed to the locker room.
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