NBA Eastern Conference semi-finals Roundup: Miami Heat vs. Boston Celtics (Part 1)
After thrashing their opponents in the first round of the playoffs, the newly established power centre in the East, the Miami Heat and the big boys, Boston Celtics set up a dream clash in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Here
is a review of how the series unfolded.
Game-1: Miami Heat 99 – Boston Celtics 90
Dwyane Wade spearheaded the Miami Heat as they defeated the Boston Celtics 99-90 on May 1, 2011 at the American Airlines Arena, Miami. Wade scored 38 points along with five assists, three steals, two blocks and one rebound. His
team-mate James Jones made a new playoffs record as he made 25 points off the bench.
Wade said after the game, "We're going to have to fight for every inch, every game we get. Right now, we won Game 1. We're supposed to. We'll go back and focus on winning Game 2. We're at home, we have home-court advantage. They're
just trying to come in and steal one like they've done in the past. So it's our job to come out with the same mentality in the next one."
Both teams started the game cautiously, before the Heat gained the momentum and clinched a 20-14 lead in the first quarter. The Heat again outscored the C’s in the second quarter to chart out a 51-36 lead at the halftime.
Although the C’s raised their offensive game in the third quarter and thumped the Heat with 26 points during the period, but still failed to slash the first half lead. The Heat took the foot off the paddle in the final 12 minutes
of the game as they allowed the Celtics to score 28 more points. Their first two quarters lead however proved to be a very high mountain for Boston to climb up and Miami sealed the game.
Ray Allen led the C’s with 25 points, three boards and three assists.
Game-2: Miami Heat 102 – Boston Celtics 91
After a poor showing by his standards in game-1, LeBron James bounced back as the Miami Heat overpowered the Boston Celtics 102-91 in the second game of the semi-finals. With this victory the Heat put the Celtics in the 2-0 hole.
James chipped in with 35 points, clutched seven rebounds and dished out two assists in the game. Out of his 35 points, 24 came in the second half of the game. Dwyane Wade added 28 points for the Heat.
James however was wary of a Celtics backlash, "Feel good about it. Series is far -- far, far, far -- away from over. It's really just beginning for us."
After another slow beginning, the Heat were able to squeak past the C’s 27-26 in the first quarter. The furious battle of supremacy continued in the second quarter, before Miami finally made a deep 11-6 spurt to lead Boston 47-42,
going into the break.
Both teams tallied 25 points in the third quarter as the deadlock ensued. The Celtics showed some resilience early in the fourth and tied the game with more than seven minutes to go. However, they lost it down the stretch as the
Heat launched a 14-0 blitz to fade them away.
Rajon Rondo was the major contributor for the C’s on the night. He scored 20 points and distributed 12 dimes along with six rebounds.
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