Miami Heat snatch a 98-90 win in O.T; put the Boston Celtics on the brink of elimination – Part 1
On Monday night, Miami Heat dealt a big blow to the Boston Celtics chances of reaching the NBA finals for the second year running, as they pounded the Celts with a 98 – 90 decision in their own back yard.
After four gruelling quarters resulted in a tie, the game went into overtime. The Heat were simply a class apart in O.T. as they outsmarted the Celtics to secure a massive 3-1 advantage in their Eastern Conference semi-final matchup.
The Big Three came up with a huge performance for the Miami Heat as they scored 83 of their team’s 98 points. LeBron James scored a game high 35 points while also leading his team with 14 rebounds. Dwyane Wade chipped in with 28 and Chris Bosh had 20 points to go along with his 12 boards. No other player on the Miami roster reached 5 points in the game - they didn’t have to.
The performance came after a poor showing by the trio in the game-3 loss to Boston at the TD Garden. Dwyane Wade said after the game that they were happy with their response and knew that the team depended on the three stars in tough situations,
"We're the guys. We're the ones who get all the attention. We're the ones that get all the praise," Wade said. "This team is going to go as far as us three takes it."
For Boston, Paul Pierce led the scoring with 27 points and also grabbed 8 rebounds. Ray Allen had 17 while Rajon Rondo and Kevin Garnett disappointed with figures of 10 and seven respectively. The Celtics still managed to be a match for the Heat and led for much of the game. However, poor execution down the stretch and in overtime cost them dearly.
Ray Allen, while admitting that the Celtics have perhaps dug too big a hole for themselves with the loss, said the team thrives in adversity and will be up for game-5 in Miami,
"These are those moments. I look forward to it," Allen said. "Everybody on this team, we know what to do. We can't talk about it; we just have to put our best foot forward. It's not easy. It just makes it that much more special if we're able to do it."
Although the pace of the game slowed down considerably later on, the first quarter saw a gung-ho approach from both teams.
The Celtics started with a 9 – 2 run and never looked back afterwards, leading throughout the first quarter. They racked up 31 points in the first period. The Heat didn’t fall behind by too many though as they answered with 28. The period also saw a bit of a duel between LeBron James and Paul Pierce. Both the small forwards were on song and finished the first twelve minutes with 13 and 14 points respectively.
The Celtics started the second quarter in an aggressive fashion again. Right at the start, they went on an 11 – 3 run that stretched their lead to a game high eleven points with 8:24 left to play in the first half. Not to be out done, the Heat responded with 8 – 1 sprint, which slashed the lead back down to three points at the halfway mark of the second.
After trading more shots, the teams went into the interval with the score 53 – 50, advantage Boston.
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