Top Performances from the May 9 playoff games – Part 1
LeBron James
Playing at the TD Garden on Monday night, LeBron James marshalled the Miami Heat with a game-high 35 points as the men from the South Beach overwhelmed the Boston Celtics in overtime. James also clutched a game-high 14 rebounds on the night, powering Miami
Heat to a 98-90 victory. The Heat now lead the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semi-final series 3-1.
James was flawless on the free throws as well. The prolific small forward landed 9-of- 9 from the charity stripe and also buried two blistering blows from beyond the arc.
James scored 13 points in the first quarter capped by a floating jump shot to keep Miami in a competitive position early on. However, the Heat still trailed by 4 points entering into the fourth quarter. This was where James decided to turn on the heat
and smashed the Celtics with 11 points to take the game in overtime. The Heat didn’t look back after that and romped to a 8-point win.
Dwyane Wade
Miami’s shooting guard Dwyane Wade has been extremely aggressive against the Boston Celtics right from the start of the series. Monday night, the 29-year-old guard notched up another aggressive performance and erupted with 28 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists
to propel the Heat.
Wade was impressive on both ends of the court and took the charge dominantly in the second half of the game.
After a slow start in the first quarter, Wade regained his momentum and combined with Bosh and James to take the game into the overtime. Wade then landed 5 out of 12 points in the extra five minutes as the Heat took down the C’s.
Chris Bosh
Although James and Wade put up better numbers on the night, however it was Bosh who came up with the crucial plays, especially down the stretch, to provide a significant support.
Two nights after a miserable outing at the T.D. Garden, the All-Star power forward racked up 20 points and gathered 12 rebounds.
"Our goal was to come out and compete for two games and hopefully get one. And we accomplished that goal. We're one more win away from our short-term goal, and we just have to keep playing together and keep the defensive frame of mind that we did for the
last three quarters." Bosh said after the game.
After helping the team to tie the game 86-86 with the end of the fourth quarter, Bosh surged with a layup shot, tip shot and then a free throw early in the overtime as Miami sealed a brilliant victory.
Paul Pierce
Forward Paul Pierce was the top performer in the Celtics’ line-up as he landed a team-high 27 points and gathered 8 rebounds. However, his efforts proved insufficient against the might of Miami’s superstar trio.
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