Miami Heat storm back in the third quarter to seize the advantage from Boston Celtics
Miami Heat started the second half of Game-1 in their Eastern Conference Final series against the Boston Celtics much like the way they started the game.
After getting outscored and outhustled in the second quarter, Miami got back to business in the third quarter.
The managed to outscore the Celtics 26-15 in the frame and at times looked to be racing away with the game. After slumping to just 4 points in the second period, LeBron James got back to being himself in the third. He managed to
chip in 10 points in the third quarter alone which took his total to 27 points before heading into the final quarter.
Dwyane Wade followed him up with 6 points in the third quarter which equalled the number of points he had in the entire first half. Wade was employed on Rajon Rondo in the early part of the third quarter by Miami’s coach Erik Spoelstra
and he thrived in the distributing role, ending the third quarter with 6 assists.
James Jones and Shane Battier continued to pile the pressure on the Celtics from long range by hitting a triple each whereas Mario Chalmers also played well to manage 9 points after three quarters of game time gone.
The Greens had erupted for 35 points in the second, but could not keep up the consistency in the third quarter and could only manage 15 points in the frame, much courtesy to their inability to convert possession into scoring on
a consistent level.
Boston head coach Doc Rivers labelled the third quarter as the turning point of the showdown;
"In the third quarter, the game just got away from us. I thought we rushed. I thought our offense was rushed. I thought never got into our rhythm as far as getting on one side of the floor to the other, second and third options."
Only four players for Boston scored in the third period. Kevin Garnett who had been the leading scorer for the C`s managed 7 points in the frame and took his total to 20 points.
Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo could only manage 2 points after both of them had put together 8 points each in the second quarter. Brandon Bass managed to open his scoring account in the game by scoring 4 for Boston, who started the
period on a 1-for-9 shooting and closed it on 6-for-22.
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