Celtics Live Blog: Dwyane Wade Drops 46 as Heat Force Game 5

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Apr 25, 2010

Celtics Live Blog: Dwyane Wade Drops 46 as Heat Force Game 5Final: Heat 101, Celtics 92. That's all she wrote. The Heat stick it out and get the win at home, forcing a Game 5 back in Boston on Tuesday night.

Too much Dwyane Wade, not enough poise down the stretch for the Celtics to pull this one out.

Miami lives to play another day. You just can't say enough about the incredible performance from Dwyane Wade, who finishes with 46 points including 19 in the fourth quarter.

Fourth quarter, 24.0 seconds, Heat 99-92: Ray misses from long range, perhaps for the last time. The Heat are just about ready to finish this one off.

Fourth quarter, 34.6 seconds, Heat 99-92: If this game's not over, it's mighty close. Wade makes one of two, and Boston needs a timeout.

They'll need a miracle.

Fourth quarter, 34.6 seconds, Heat 98-92: Wade to the line for two. If he makes just one of these, this game is pretty much over.

Fourth quarter, 1:11, Heat 98-92: Just like his teammate Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett chokes at the free-throw line. That's five straight misses for the Celtics in crunch time. Unbelievable.

Fourth quarter, 1:27, Heat 98-92: Even when the Heat screw up, they strike gold. Beautiful play by Michael Beasley, taking the air ball from Dorell Wright and dropping it in. Heat by six.

Fourth quarter, 1:50, Heat 96-92: Who is this guy, and what did he do with Ray Allen? Three straight misses from the free-throw line — just unbelievable. He's visibly rattled as he retreats to the bench.

Timeout Heat — Erik Spoelstra's guys are a couple of stops away from forcing a Game 5 back in Boston.

Fourth quarter, 2:36, Heat 96-92: There's no one in the game you'd rather have at the free-throw line in a big spot than Ray Allen. You almost have to do a double take whenever he misses one. Unfortunately for the Celtics, he just did.

Fourth quarter, 3:05, Heat 96-91: If the Celtics keep hitting shots like this, they'll have a chance. First Ray Allen, then Michael Finley. They're firing on all cylinders.

Fourth quarter, 4:28, Heat 96-85: You know you're desperate when Rajon Rondo is jacking up 3s. Even when he makes it, you still feel defeated. That's the best shot the C's can get?

Rondo makes one from long range and can't help but push his luck with another attempt. Not happening.

It's too early for the Celtics to get desperate. They've just got to keep playing smart team basketball.

Oh, and slow that Wade guy down.

Fourth quarter, 5:48, Heat 93-82: If you're Ray Allen, what can you do? You play Dwyane Wade close and you contest every shot, but it just doesn't matter. He makes everything whether you try to stop him or not.

Wade has 44 points, 17 of them in the fourth quarter alone. He's shooting 16-of-24, including 5-of-7 from 3-point range.

There's just no stopping the man.

Fourth quarter, 7:00, Heat 90-80: The Miami lead hits double digits. Pretty impressive, considering Wade is the only starter out there for the Heat right now. Although he's really the only one they need.

Fourth quarter, 8:17, Heat 88-80: This just in: Dwyane Wade has perfected the art of flopping like a champion in the act of shooting a 3.

Ray Allen clearly stands his ground as Wade attempts a terrible off-balance shot, but he gets the whistle and gets to the line for three shots. He makes them all.

It's an eight-point Miami lead. Wade has 41.

Fourth quarter, 9:13, Heat 85-80: Wade strikes again. And again. And again and again and again.

He's got 38. In the blink of an eye, the Heat have turned a six-point deficit into a five-point lead. The Celtics don't have an answer.

Fourth quarter, 10:21, Heat 79-78: Yet another huge shot from Dwyane Wade. It's happened yet again — D-Wade has decided to take matters into his own hands.

He's doing it well. Thirty-five points and counting — there's a lot of game still to go.

End of third quarter, Celtics 75-71: The Celtics are playing like they're ready to finish this sweep. Since they trailed 62-55 midway through this third quarter, they've gone on a 22-9 run. Amazing.

The Big Three are hitting every shot — Pierce, Garnett and Allen are now shooting a combined 18-for-29 from the field for 43 points. They've got the veteran leadership to finish this one off and head home to Boston with a sweep. They've just got to prove it for the next 12 minutes.

Third quarter, 3:20, 64-64: If there was any doubt at all that Dwyane Wade really doesn't want to lose this game, there no longer is.

The Celtics go on a quick 9-0 run to take their first lead since 2-0 at 64-62 — and how does Wade respond? He drives past three Celtics and throws down a dunk so hard that even Kevin Garnett cowers in fear.

I think we all know how this game's going to turn out. The Celtics are going to play like a team, and the Heat are just going to pray that D-Wade carries them on his back to victory.

The only question is who ends up on top.

Third quarter, 6:08, Heat 62-55: Every time the Celtics get a big shot from Ray Allen, the Heat come back with one from … Quentin Richardson?

OK, Quentin Richardson.

Q can do a lot more for the Heat than start fights — he's come to life in this game as an outside shooting weapon, making four of his five attempts from long range. The Celtics are playing their hearts out and working hard to get back into this game, but the Heat are making just enough shots to hold them at bay.

Third quarter, 9:17, Heat 53-48: This might be another one of those third quarters where Rajon Rondo comes to life and takes over. The Celtics could use it.

Rondo's finding his aggression again offensively, both scoring and finding Paul Pierce for the open looks. The Celtics are still within striking distance, not letting Miami steal Game 4 without a fight.

Halftime, Heat 49-43: The Celtics get approximately a zillion stops in a row over the final seven minutes of the first half, but it's still not enough to come all the way back. Not yet, anyway.

We've seen a lot of good things from the C's over this 18-6 run, as they're clamping down defensively and playing well in the absence of the foul-troubled Ray Allen and Paul Pierce.

But they've still got to be a little more aggressive offensively, rather than settling for jump shots. If they want to win this thing and finish the sweep in Miami, they've got to work for it.

Dwyane Wade has 16 points, Quentin Richardson 13 and Michael Beasley 12 for Miami in the first half. That's the only Big Three I've seen today.

Second quarter, 4:05, Heat 45-36: You've got to admire the toughness of Rajon Rondo, finishing at the rim and getting up on his own power after a hard, hard foul from Miami's Joel Anthony.

Rondo's aggression offensively in the first half has kept the Celtics alive in this game. If he can remain at full strength and continue to play his heart out, the Celtics will definitely have a chance in this game.

Looks like Rondo will remain in the game. It's a good thing, too — he's got a free throw to make.

Second quarter, 6:03, Heat 43-29: This might be the first time all series that we've seen this side of Michael Beasley: confident, playing well, happy.

Beasley is knocking 'em down and throwing 'em down. The Celtics don't appear to have an answer.

The No. 2 overall pick of two years ago, Beasley's been a Jekyll-and-Hyde character for the Heat this season, but when he's the good Beasley, he's awfully scary. The Celtics have to match his energy to have a chance.

Second quarter, 9:23, Heat 36-22: Given the way his starters have played so far, Doc Rivers has every reason to give his second unit a nice long leash. At this point, it couldn't hurt.

The C's are doing some little things right. Glen Davis is crashing the boards with energy. Nate Robinson is playing smart, unselfish basketball. Tony Allen has been his usual hardworking self.

But these little things aren't enough. The C's have to string together another one of those famous second-quarter runs that have carried them in this series — and it all has to start by getting a couple of timely stops.

End of first quarter, Heat 31-18: The Celtics have no offensive poise, no answer for Dwyane Wade, just generally no clue what they're doing. This is ugly.

As a general rule, whenever Rajon Rondo keeps the ball himself and decides that slashing and scoring is his primary option offensively in the first quarter, it's because he can't get anything else going.

Everyone in green looks asleep at the wheel offensively. No one's willing to work to create a good shot. They're giving Rondo no choice but to take matters into his own hands, and that's not going to work against a Miami team desperate to stave off elimination.

The Celtics have got to dig deep to find more energy and more effort. They've got to play better.

First quarter, 3:11, Heat 26-14: As Doc Rivers always says, it's a game of runs.

The C's go on a 7-0 run to cut the Miami lead from 10 to three. Immediately, though, the Heat respond. They put together a 9-0 run of their own, with Wade scoring in bunches and Quentin Richardson continuing to change the game with his energy.

After Richardson robs Glen Davis, plows over Davis in transition and feeds Wade underneath for an easy layup, the Heat lead is up to 12.

Richardson has 13 points early. Wade has nine.

The Celtics have attempted eight shots and made nine turnovers.

First quarter, 6:09, Heat 17-7: You can tell that Kevin Garnett is just dying to take this game into his own hands. But he's trying to do too much.

Just watch the rookie mistakes from the 15-year veteran. The bad pass picked off by D-Wade. The goaltend on Richardson. The traveling violation.

At the same time, KG has been a potent offensive weapon today, starting off 2-for-2 from the floor. But there's such a thing as being too amped up. It's only the first quarter — gotta keep a little bit of that energy bottled up for later.

First quarter, 9:24, Heat 8-2: Every game, someone besides Dwyane Wade decides to give a half-hearted effort to do his part for Miami. Looks like today, it's Quentin Richardson.

Q has scored eight consecutive points, including a pair of 3s and a nice jumper that ends on a goaltending by Kevin Garnett. The Heat are poised to hold their ground on their home floor.

The Celtics look a little too anxious. They've got to calm down and play their game.

8 a.m.: There was a lot of speculation down the stretch this season that maybe the Celtics still had what it took to win in the postseason — they were just saving their energy for the playoffs. And there were a lot of skeptics who doubted that notion.

Through three games, it looks like those skeptics will have to eat their words. And it looks like the Celtics could go deeper in these playoffs than anyone anticipated.

The C's take the court in Miami on Sunday afternoon with just one win separating them from Round 2 of the Eastern Conference playoffs. And what better way to assert their authority in Round 1 than with a four-game sweep of Dwyane Wade and the Heat?

Miami put up a fight in Game 3, keeping things close the whole way but letting it all slip away on a Paul Pierce buzzer-beater. In Game 4, the Heat will have to do more than just keep it close. It's win or go home.

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