Miami Heat overcome Rajon Rondo led Boston Celtics to make it 2-0 in the Eastern Conference Finals – NBA Playoffs Par t 1
Miami Heat came back from a 15 point deficit in the 2nd half to win 115-111 in overtime against the Boston Celtics in the game 2 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals.
The Heat now lead the series 2-0 with the next two games to be played in Boston. LeBron James added another 30 point game to his career tally, scoring 34 points to lead the Heat in scoring. Rajon Rondo had one of the best performances
in playoff history and the best of his career when he scored a career high 44 points, 10 assists and 8 rebounds for the Celtics. He was, however, unable to ensure a victory for his team.
A three pointer by Ray Allen tied the game at 99 with 34 seconds left. Miami had two chances to win in regulation but James missed a layup and then a fade away jumper to force the game into overtime.
However, Wade and James played sealed the deal for the Heat in overtime.
"It has to be the hard way. It always seems to be that competitive when we play against this team. Tonight, it didn't let us down ...It was ugly at times. We couldn't get into a great rhythm” said Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra.
The last four points of the 1st quarter for the Celtics came off Rondo’s free throws, as they led 24-18 to close the quarter. A 6-0 run to open the 2nd period gave the Celtics a 30-18 lead in the early minutes.
Boston continued to pile on the pressure and a jumper by Ray Allen extended the Celtics lead to 15 with 4 minutes remaining in the half.
Miami responded with an 11-2 run capped off by a three pointer by Mario Chalmers to reduce the deficit to 6 and have them trailing 43-49. Boston led 53-46 at half time.
Like they have done so many times before, Heat picked up their game in the third quarter and turned the tide. Trailing by 52-61 after two free throws by Paul Pierce, the Heat came alive and went on a 14-8 run that had them trailing
66-69 with 4:40 left in the period.
Miami took the lead for the first time since the first quarter with a layup-and-one play by Udonis Haslem at the 2:55 mark. They led 81-74 going into the final period of the game.
Trailing the Heat 81-85, Mickael Pietrus hit a crunch three pointer and Rondo followed with a layup to give Boston an 86-85 lead. Another jump shot by Rondo with 4:13 left in the game had the Celtics up by 5. But the Heat came
back with two free throws by James and a three pointer by Shane Battier to tie the game at 94.
James again was fouled for two free throws and scored on both, and Haslem scored a jump shot to cap off a 9-0 run by the Heat and put them up 98-94 with 1:08 left. Ray Allen then reminded everyone why he is the best three point
shooter in the league when he sank a deep three with 34 seconds left in the game to tie it at 99.
James had a missed layup attempt followed by a missed fade away jumper in the final 22 seconds that could have won it for Miami in regulation. The game went into overtime.
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