Miami Heat cruise past Boston Celtics in season opener in front of home crowd – NBA Recap
The Miami Heat received their championship rings on Tuesday night in front of a packed American Airlines Arena and raised their banner as champions of the 2011-2012 NBA season. They then quickly got down to business as they defeated their Eastern Conference arch rivals Boston Celtics in the season opener for both teams.
It was a rematch of last season’s Eastern Conference Finals which went to seven games, and also happened to be the first game for Ray Allen in a Miami Heat uniform, co-incidentally against his former team which was no mood of showing any love to their former teammate. The Heat exhibited their new game plan for the first time and it seemed to be too much for the Celtics as Miami cruised to a 120-107 victory even though LeBron James had to be benched for much of the second half after suffering from cramps.
The first quarter was tightly contested between the two teams, as they exchanged leads on a few occasions and remained within striking distance of each other throughout. Miami took the lead near the end and finished the first period leading 31-25. A three pointer by Norris Cole in the 2nd period gave Miami a 40-31 lead, but Boston took no time in coming back and tied the game at 44 through two free throws by Paul Pierce. However, Miami were once again able to break away and finished the first half with a comfortable 62-54 lead.
LeBron James opened the third period with a three point shot, and Dwyane Wade then hit a layup as the Heat extended their lead to 67-56 in the early going. A jump shot by Bosh later on put the Heat up 81-70 in this high scoring affair where both teams refused to give up without a shot and kept coming back at each other. Miami then outscored Boston 12-2 in the final three minutes of the quarter and took a 93-76 lead into the final period.
Miami had the game in full control even without their leader LeBron James on the floor in the final period, and were leading 106-91 with 5:54 left in the game. However, the Celtics refused to go away without a fight and put up a 16-5 run to cut the deficit and trail by only 107-111with a little over two minutes left in the game. Chris Bosh then took command of the Heat team and scored the next seven points while Boston failed to score on the other end. The Celtics missed their final four field goal attempts and Miami cruised to a 120-107 win in the end.
James finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds in almost 29 minutes of action, going 10 of 16 from the field. Wade had 29 points for the night, going 10 of 22 from the field and 9 of 11 from the foul line. Chris Bosh had 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Ray Allen also scored 19 points off the bench for the Heat. Paul Pierce led the Celtics scoring with 23 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, while Brandon Bass finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Kevin Garnett only had 9 points for the night but grabbed 12 rebounds, where as Rajon Rondo scored 20 points, 13 assists and 7 rebounds. Leandro Barbosa added 16 points off the bench for the Celtics.
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