Rajon Rondo drives Boston Celtics as they decimate Miami Heat 91 – 72 – NBA Recap
The Boston Celtics on Sunday pounded the mighty Miami Heat into submission, handing down a 91 – 72 defeat at the TD Garden. The injury ravaged Celtics played for pride and their commitment showed as they beat the Eastern Conference giants all ends up to
the delight of the home crowd.
Rajon Rondo was magnificent for the Celtics. His penetration and passing poked holes in the revered Miami defence all night long. Rondo finished the night with a triple-double, his fifth of the current NBA season. The point guard had 16 points, 14 assists
and 11 rebounds in a powerful display.
Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers lavished praise on his player after the game.
"We told Rondo that we needed him to be a scorer. Not necessarily a playmaker; a scorer. And I thought he set the tone at the beginning of the game by doing that, and I thought that loosened it up for everybody else to get into the game. He was terrific."
Kevin Garnett had 10 points and 8 rebounds, Brandon Bass tallied 16 and 10, while Paul Pierce had 23 points and 7 rebounds.
The Miami Heat relied on star forward LeBron James, who managed 23 points and 4 rebounds. Dwyane Wade could get only 15 but the biggest disappointment for the Heat was Chris Bosh, the forward scoring just 4.
Boston were on the attack right from the start, the Celtics using a 13 – 4 sprint from jump ball to take control of the first quarter. Miami had a mini revival but the Celtics overcame it, ending the first segment on top 29 – 19.
Miami were much better in the next period, especially early on when they looked dangerous and closed down the lead to just 1 point, 34 – 33. They would go on to draw level, 40 – 40, but Boston didn’t let them take control, ending the first half up at 49
– 44.
Boston came out of the break all guns blazing, and simply blew the Heat away in the third frame. The Celtics scored almost at will, plundering 31 points in the period. They also restricted the Heat to a meagre 12.
Thus, at the start of the 4th quarter the home team was in complete control, score 80 – 56. The pace was very slow in the segment, and Miami were able to reduce the margin of their defeat before the end, 91 – 72.
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