LeBron James carries the Heat with 27 points, eight assists, five rebounds, four steals and a block. In a bizarre game chock-full of turnovers and bad shots and loose-ball free-for-alls, LeBron is the one guy who outshines everyone else.
Paul Pierce leads the Celtics with 24 points; Kevin Garnett adds 21 more. The C’s go down hard, though, as the supporting class gives them nothing.
They’re on the road once more this season — Monday night, at Washington. Will they get win No. 56?
Fourth quarter, 3:23, Heat 92-77: The Celtics are running out of gas, but LeBron and Chris Bosh are still going strong. Young guns like the Heat know how to win early-April games like this.
The Celtics have been humbled by the Bulls and Heat this week. But the real question is whether they can reach another level in the playoffs. If they keep giving efforts like this after next week, they’ll be in for a long summer vacation.
Fourth quarter, 4:25, Heat 88-75: Mike Bibby just hit a huge 3 to pad the Miami lead. That was inevitable.
The Celtics have gotten lazy defensively and let Bibby have open looks all day. It was only a matter of time before he knocked one down.
The C’s are running out of time now.
Fourth quarter, 5:26, Heat 85-72: Well, not so fast. The Celtics go on a 9-0 run, quickly cutting the Miami lead from 22 to 13.
This would be a miracle comeback if the Celtics could make it happen. But let’s not get carried away — it’s still a double-digit ballgame.
Fourth quarter, 6:56, Heat 85-67: Midway through the fourth, down 18? Yeah, sounds like it’s time to pack it in and let the starters rest. This is still a back-to-back, after all.
Washington awaits tomorrow night. The C’s have to keep an eye on the big picture.
Fourth quarter, 8:56, Heat 81-61: It’s another 7-2 run for the Heat to open the fourth quarter. And you know what’s the wrong way to catch up again? Making dumb basketball plays like shoving James Jones in the act of missing a 3.
Jones makes two of the three ensuing free throws. Glen Davis just gave away those two points. He absolutely cannot afford to be doing that.
End of third quarter, Heat 74-59: The Celtics have been held under 20 in back-to-back quarters. You don’t see that too often.
The offense has become really stale and uninspired for the C’s. They’re settling for a lot of jumpers — Kevin Garnett is making his for the most part, but no one else has been quite so fortunate.
KG’s 8-for-13, and he’s got 19 points and four boards. He’s been a rock for Boston. But check out LeBron’s line — he’s got 17 points, six assists, four steals, three rebounds and a block. He’s doing a little of everything.
The C’s have a lot of work to do. They need to wake up and play better offensively.
Third quarter, 1:42, Heat 69-57: One major weakness in the C’s game right now: They can’t score a second-chance point to save their lives. Every time they settle for a jumper and miss, the Heat get the rebound and the possession is blown.
Bad shots are unforgivable when you’re not getting boards. You’ve got to make every shot count.
The rebounding edge is now 32-18 in Miami’s favor. That’s pretty significant.
Third quarter, 5:50, Heat 62-50: The Celtics finally get Ray Allen a nice look at a 3, but Ray bricks it. It bounces off the rim and over the top of the backboard.
Pretty ugly. Ray still only has four shots. The Celtics have to make more of an effort to get him involved. His 3-point shooting could be the X-factor in a Celtic comeback.
Third quarter, 8:31, Heat 58-44: Now it’s an 11-4 run. The Celtics look absolutely dead on both ends. They can’t score, they can’t defend, and they certainly can’t do a thing on the glass.
Doc Rivers looks very unhappy. Can’t say I blame him.
Third quarter, 10:23, Heat 54-42: The Heat open the second half on a 7-2 run, and they now have their biggest lead of the afternoon.
The Heat are pretty scary when their underrated supporting guys, like Mike Bibby and Zydrunas Ilgauskas, knock down shots from the perimeter. That opens up everyone else.
Right now, everyone is firing for the Heat. It’s a thing of beauty, you have to admit.
Halftime, Heat 47-40: Amid all the extracurricular shenanigans, these two teams do have a basketball game to win. Right now, the Heat are in good shape in that regard.
Kevin Garnett gives the Celtics a monster first half, dropping 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting, but the rest of the team is struggling, shooting 8-of-21. The C’s are also getting murdered on the glass, 24-10.
LeBron has 12 points, four assists, three steals and two rebounds for the Heat. Just another day at the office for him.
Second quarter, 1:49, Heat 47-37: Now it’s Chris Bosh’s turn to get T’d up — the third banana reaches in to grab a loose ball and force a jump with Rajon Rondo, but Rondo gets off a timeout call and Bosh vehemently disagrees.
The tech is either for arguing, or spitting out his mouthpiece and drooling all over the floor. Or perhaps both.
Meanwhile, the Heat have quietly opened up a 10-point lead. LeBron made a very nice hustle play last possession to get a rebound on a missed Mario Chalmers 3. He got Chalmers a second chance, and the kid made the next shot.
The Celtics need to put some points on the board. Yikes.
Second quarter, 4:19, Heat 37-32: Things heat up between LeBron James and Jermaine O’Neal, as LBJ runs into the lane and J.O. gets a flagrant for blocking him. James throws the ball at O’Neal, and chaos breaks out.
Flagrant for J.O., technical for LeBron, double techs for Paul Pierce and Dwyane Wade for scuffling a little bit on the side.
Now order is restored. Let’s play some basketball.
Second quarter, 5:21, Heat 37-32: Still waiting for LeBron James to score in the halfcourt offense. He’s done nothing yet on that front.
King James just drove into the paint, blew past Paul Pierce, but then went up too hard. He airballed a layup.
Chris Bosh recovers the loose ball and tries to put it back up, but the shot clock intervenes. Celtics ball.
Given how weak the Heat’s offense has been, it’s a miracle they’re up five.
Second quarter, 6:51, Heat 32-30: The Celtics’ offense is sputtering, but Kevin Garnett is keeping them going in this game. The Big Ticket makes a big finish at the rim off an assist from Delonte West.
KG is 5-for-5. The rest of the Celtics are a combined 5-for-16. That’s just not right.
Second quarter, 8:55, Heat 25-24: Glen Davis is dominating the offense right now for the Celtics’ second unit. No touches for Jeff Green, none for Delonte West, none for Nenad Krstic.
The Celtics might need to mix it up. Their game is looking awfully stale right now.
Doc Rivers calls a timeout. Let’s see if he can breathe some life into his guys.
Second quarter, 9:49, 24-24: This second quarter is really going to test the Heat’s depth. Right now we’re watching Boston’s reserves against mostly Miami’s reserves, and the Heatles’ backup dancers are surprisingly holding their own.
Chris Bosh is on the floor, but LeBron and Wade are both on the bench. CB1 just settled for a contested 20-footer and missed.
The C’s need to maintain the defensive effort, even with the Heat’s two leaders out of the ballgame.
End of first quarter, Celtics 22-21: Despite a pretty embarrassing half court heave at the buzzer from Glen Davis, it’s a pretty solid first quarter for Boston. The Celtics make eight of their first 16 shots and hold off a late Heat rally to stay up by one.
Kevin Garnett leads the way so far for Boston with 11 points. LeBron James counters with seven for the Heat, while Dwyane Wade adds six.
Goal for the second quarter: Cut down on the mistakes offensively. Every bad shot and every turnover is putting the Heat into their transition game, where LeBron’s speed, size and strength are just overpowering. The C’s can control this game if they control the ball and control the tempo.
First quarter, 3:35, Celtics 22-17: LeBron James quietly piles up seven points on 3-of-4 shooting early.
He’s playing the Rajon Rondo role for Miami — forcing mistakes on defense, getting into transition, and finishing.
The bigger challenge, though, will be for LeBron to score on the Celtics’ half court offense. We’ve hardly even seen him try that yet.
First quarter, 4:30, Celtics 22-15: Kevin Garnett doesn’t enjoy taking 3-point shots — he prefers jacking them up from one foot inside. But he takes the shot when he has to, and here he makes one in the waning seconds of the shot clock.
Big bucket for the Celtics. They’re making shots left and right.
Still waiting for Coach Spo to shift his guys into a higher gear defensively. Might be a while.
First quarter, 7:02, Celtics 13-8: Kevin Garnett is playing his heart out early. KG misses a lob from Ray Allen for an alley-oop, but to make up for it, he surges back down the floor and makes a nice hustle play to break up a pass from Dwyane Wade.
KG gets amped up for games like this. It’s a joy to watch him when he’s at his most intense.
First quarter, 9:11, Celtics 11-2: Ray Allen has it going early. The C’s shooting guard drains a 3, and the lead just keeps on ballooning.
Erik Spoelstra needs a timeout. His team just looks totally dead out there. The Celtics are getting every shot they want, without even having to work for it.
The C’s have made their first three shots; the Heat are 1-for-4.
First quarter, 10:15, Celtics 6-0: The Celtics couldn’t ask for a better start. Not only are they up 6-0, but Jermaine O’Neal just drew a charge like a champion against Chris Bosh. Bosh has his second foul early, and Erik Spoelstra yanks him.
Juwan Howard checks in to replace Bosh. Spo could have gone with Mike Miller at the small forward spot, moving LeBron James to the four, but he opts against it. King James is still no fan of the low post.
First quarter, 11:44, Celtics 1-0: Rajon Rondo shows some aggression early, charging into the paint and drawing a foul from Zydrunas Ilgauskas. He gets to the line for two.
Rondo makes one, and it’s a 1-0 lead early for the C’s.
Rondo’s initiative is the key in this game. We’ve seen him do everything in this matchup from drop triple-doubles, to make big shots, to guard LeBron James.
3:34 p.m.: The early game is just wrapping up — the Bulls just beat the Magic in dramatic fashion down in Orlando, with Jameer Nelson draining a game-tying 3 just barely after the buzzer. Derrick Rose and the Bulls hold on to win, 102-99.
Time for the main event. C’s-Heat is going to be a thriller.
3 p.m.: No surprise — no Shaq. The Celtics are once again without their Hall of Fame center against the Heat. They’ll have to settle for a mere All-Star center.
Jermaine O’Neal took Friday off, resting his knee rather than play four games in five nights. But he should be back in the lineup Sunday, good to know.
The C’s could really use a solid game from J.O. against his former team. His presence in the paint will make life difficult for LeBron James and Dwyane Wade to drive and attack the basket.
8 a.m.: The Celtics dialed it up on Friday night — with just four games left in the regular season and the pressure building, they gave one of their best defensive efforts of the season in the second half against the visiting Washington Wizards.
They held the Wiz to just 32 points in the second half, 13 in the fourth quarter. They held their own in the middle despite sitting both of their “O’Neal brothers,” and they took away Washington’s 3-point shot all night. It was a very solid win for a team that’s gearing up for a playoff run.
But Miami is not Washington. On Sunday afternoon down in South Florida, the Celtics will need to find another level of urgency altogether against one of their chief rivals.
“Definitely,” Paul Pierce said of Sunday’s showdown with the Miami Heat. “This is a big game for us. That’s what we are playing for — for the home court advantage. Not only for the first round, but hopefully we will see them in the second round.
“This is a big game for us, when you’re talking about seeds and trying to advance in the playoffs. It’s huge.”
That it is. This is the one the C’s have been building toward — Jermaine O’Neal sat out Friday in preparation to play Sunday against the Heat, his former team. Shaquille O’Neal, also a former Heat player, may return Sunday as well.
You’re going to see a playoff atmosphere, playoff-level intensity, and likely two full-strength playoff rotations. The playoffs aren’t here just yet, but Sunday afternoon is as close to the real thing as you’ll ever see.
The Celtics and Heat tip off at 3:30 p.m.
