Dwyane Wade finishes with 38 points, James Jones adds 25, and LeBron James chips in 22 more. The Heat roll.
Ray Allen finishes with 25 points, but he was really the only Celtic feeling it. They need a more complete team effort to remain competitive in this series. Paul Pierce's ejection sure didn't help.
The C's don't have much time to regroup. They've got to retake the floor for Game 2 of this series on Tuesday night, right back here at American Airlines Arena.
Fourth quarter, 49.4 seconds, Heat 96-88: The Heat have an eight-point lead and the ball. Erik Spoelstra calls for a quick timeout.
As long as the Heat don't do anything colossally stupid, they should be in good shape.
Fourth quarter, 1:41, Heat 96-86: Dwyane Wade just put life and limb on the line, diving three rows deep into the seats for a loose ball, courtesy of an awful pass from Mario Chalmers.
The Celtics call timeout. They have the ball back, down 10. They need several big shots and several stops in a row, right now. No more dawdling.
Fourth quarter, 3:03, Heat 94-82: Needless to say, this was no time for back-to-back turnovers.
The Celtics had a shot at this thing a minute ago. Now it's slipping away again.
No excuses — the C's need better fourth-quarter execution to be competitive in this series.
Fourth quarter, 4:18, Heat 90-82: "Wait just one minute there," says Ray Allen. This one's not over.
LeBron chucks up an ugly airball, Rajon Rondo quickly gets the rebound and takes off, and Rondo finds Ray in the corner. Swish. It's the fifth 3 of the game for the C's shooting guard, who now has 25 on the afternoon.
The Celtics are not dead. Crazy, I know.
Quietly, Rajon Rondo emerges with a very nice game. He's got six points, six rebounds and seven assists.
Fourth quarter, 5:57, Heat 90-74: Dwyane Wade adds insult to injury (or insult to ejection, as it were). He nails a wing 3, pumping the Miami lead up from 13 to 16.
Wade's got 33. The Heat are fired up; the Celtics are totally demoralized.
If this game's not over, it's at least very, very close.
Fourth quarter, 6:32, Heat 87-74: Now the Celtics are in big trouble. Paul Pierce gets yet another double technical. He's gone.
Pierce hurls his headband, shouts a what I can only imagine are a few obscenities, and stomps off. He's a very unhappy man.
The Celtics aren't coming back from down 13 without their captain. Forget about it.
Fourth quarter, 7:34, Heat 84-72: LeBron James shatters the 7-0 Boston run with a thunderous dunk, ooping the alley from Dwyane Wade. That'll suck the life out of the Celtics in a hurry.
Back to the drawing board. The C's are down 12 again.
Fourth quarter, 8:29, Heat 82-70: The Celtics keep making runs, but sooner or later, they've got to really sustain one. They're running out of time to do so.
A Rajon Rondo driving layup and a Paul Pierce 3 from the top of the key have cut the Heat lead from 17 to 12. But there's no prize for losing by only 12. The Celtics have to keep pushing if they want to win this thing.
Fourth quarter, 9:46, Heat 79-65: The Celtics went on a quick 7-0 run to make things interesting, but that has since been nipped in the bud. Miami's lead is right back where it started, at 14 again.
The Celtics can't sustain any of these comebacks. They keep making mistakes — bad passes, bad shots, bad fouls.
They're usually better than this. The Heat are making them look foolish.
End of third quarter, Heat 76-62: The Celtics manage to snap off a 9-0 Miami run with one single solitary free throw from Jeff Green.
That's not enough. The C's need about 20 more of those. They're getting absolutely creamed now.
A Paul Pierce 3 at the buzzer gives them a little consolation, but they're still down 14 with 12 minutes to play. It's going to be an uphill battle.
Dwyane Wade now has 25 points to lead the Heat, and LeBron James has 20.
Ray Allen has 19 points, and Pierce, 12 for Boston.
Third quarter, 2:30, Heat 69-58: Jermaine O'Neal delivers a flagrant foul to James Jones. That is absolutely not what the Celtics need right now.
Jones gets to the line and hits both free throws. Now it's an 11-point lead and the ball for Miami.
The closer the Celtics get to putting a run together, the harder it becomes for them to stay composed. This isn't how championship teams carry themselves.
Third quarter, 4:27, Heat 60-53: The C's get a quick bucket right when they need one. Ray Allen knocks down a big 3 to put the Celtics back within seven.
Ray's now got 16. The Celtics' other three All-Stars have all struggled to find their shooting touch all day. They've needed Ray to step up, and he's done that.
But he can't do this alone.
Third quarter, 6:07, Heat 59-48: LeBron finally snaps the Celtics' 12-0 run by getting into the paint and knocking down a soft floater. Then he gets the ball back and scores again; that'll push the Heat lead from seven back to 11.
Doc Rivers looks very unhappy at someone. Either it's the refs, or it's his players for letting the foot off the gas. They had an opportunity to get all the way back into this thing, and they couldn't quite capitalize.
Doc's called for a timeout. He's got some work to do. Can he push the Celtics all the way back?
Third quarter, 8:43, Heat 55-46: The Heat opened the quarter on a 4-0 run; the Celtics have responded with a 10-0 burst of their own. That was very, very quick.
The Celtics are getting stops, and they're getting out and running on the other end. They're creating quick, good shots, and they're hitting them. This is exactly what Doc Rivers wanted to see, no doubt.
Can they keep this intensity going?
Third quarter, 10:34, Heat 55-36: The second half picks up exactly where the first left off — the Heat are still hitting shots, and the Celtics still aren't.
LeBron James and Chris Bosh each connects on a long, contested two to open the third quarter.
If Bosh gets going, look out. The Heat are scary enough with just two superstars feeling it.
Halftime, Heat 51-36: It's Dwyane Wade's world, and the Celtics just live in it. Right now, they're dying in it.
Wade has 23 points at halftime, on 9-of-11 shooting. He's absolutely destroying the Celtics. And when the C's attempt to double him, James Jones is there to knock down a 3, as he's already done four times in this first half. Jones has 14 points. LeBron James has quietly added 10.
Ray Allen has 13 points for Boston. He's 5-of-8 from the field; the rest of the Celtics are a combined 9-of-31. That's pretty ugly.
The C's need to do a lot of things better in the second half. Foremost are these two: contain Wade, and move the ball to create better shots.
Second quarter, 3:03, Heat 38-30: James Jones is just going off for the Heat. He just hit his fourth 3 of the ballgame. The C's continue to leave Jones open in favor of doubling LeBron, and Jones continues to make them pay.
Pat Riley's vision is starting to make a little sense. Take a couple superstars, surround them with role players who hit shots, and suddenly you win playoff games.
The C's need to work harder defensively. The Heat are knocking down open looks left and right in this second quarter.
Second quarter, 5:12, Heat 32-28: Slowly but surely, the Celtics are building a little momentum. Ray Allen passes up a 3 to get Kevin Garnett a bucket inside, and Delonte West gets an offensive board and putback on the following possession.
The C's are angry right now. But they're playing good angry, not bad angry. They're focused.
Second quarter, 7:37, Heat 29-19: What's scary is that the Heat have built a double-digit lead in this game while LeBron James and Dwyane Wade have watched from the bench. Chris Bosh is out there, but even he's not doing much. The run has been mostly James Jones and Mario Chalmers.
It seems like the Heat aren't even trying. And yet they're still up 10.
The Celtics need an inspired run from their starters right now. No more Jeff Green, no more Delonte West, just let the All-Stars do their thing.
Second quarter, 9:24, Heat 28-16: Very bad news for the Celtics — Rajon Rondo has three fouls early, and he may be done for the rest of the first half.
With Delonte West playing as poorly as he is, the C's can't afford to lose Rondo.
James Jones just drove a dagger through the Celtics' hearts with another 3. D-West has gotten himself a technical to boot.
The C's are falling apart.
End of first quarter, Heat 20-14: Both teams have looked a little sluggish offensively to start the ballgame, but one guy has it going for each side. It's Dwyane Wade and Ray Allen, dueling to the death.
Wade's got 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting to lead the Heat. Allen has eight points on 3-of-5 for Boston.
Both supporting casts have been awful — the Heat minus Wade are 2-of-12, and the Celtics minus Ray are 2-of-15.
We'lll see if either team can get some shots to fall in the second quarter.
First quarter, 3:05, Heat 13-10: Dwyane Wade has eight points; LeBron James has five. Everyone else on the Heat has combined for zero.
The Heat have had an ugly first quarter offensively, but they've still done enough to open a small lead. Wade is 4-of-6 from the field, and LeBron's getting to the line. For the moment, that's all the Heat need.
The Heat are now 5-of-15 overall; the Celtics are 4-of-14. Not so hot on either side.
First quarter, 4:20, Heat 9-8: Now it's the Celtics' turn to capitalize on a turnover. LeBron makes a bad pass, Rajon Rondo scoops it up, and Paul Pierce draws a foul on the other end.
Only one problem, though: Pierce misses two shots.
It's a backwards world out there. Pierce is 0-for-2 from the line, and Rondo is 2-for-2.
First quarter, 5:58, 6-6: You're looking at a defensive struggle of a first quarter so far. We're on pace for a 48-48 final.
The Celtics are shooting 2-of-10. The Heat are even worse at 2-of-11.
Both teams are keeping it fairly simple defensively. One guards one, two guards two, and so on. Nothing crazy like LeBron and Rondo going at each other — not yet, at least.
First quarter, 6:52, 6-6: Rajon Rondo needs to stop LeBron James in transition, so he latches onto him and carries him out of bounds. Whatever works, I guess.
The crowd at American Airlines Arena gives Rondo a long, protracted howling, but James shakes it off and hits two free throws. He's now 2-of-4 from the line.
The C's still aren't keeping LeBron out of the running game the way they should. It's worrisome.
First quarter, 8:37, 4-4: Rajon Rondo goes right at Mike Bibby, and shockingly, it doesn't work this time. Bibby swats Rondo's driving layup, the Heat get going in transition, and LeBron draws a foul easily from KG.
The Celtics luck out as LeBron misses both shots. But Rondo has learned his lesson. He's got to be careful about giving the Heat opportunities to run the break.
First quarter, 10:31, Heat 2-0: The Heat win the opening tip, but LeBron misses the first shot of the ballgame.
The Celtics get their turn — Jermaine O'Neal misses. Then the Heat get another shot — it's a miss from Chris Bosh. Then the Celtics again — a miss from Kevin Garnet this time.
The Heat finally break through with a long, contested two from Dwyane Wade.
Keep giving Wade that shot all day, Celtics. He can't hit it all day.
3 p.m.: The week of preparation is finally over. It's time for some basketball.
The Celtics are sick and tired of the speculation, and they're ready to take the floor and prove themselves. As Doc Rivers described it pregame:
"They're in 'I'll show you' mode, and that's a good place to be."
Let's see what the Celtics have to show us. They're the underdogs in this series, opening with Game 1 on the road. They may be the defending East champions, but they've still got plenty to prove.
1 p.m.: Welcome to American Airlines Arena, where 19,600 seats are covered in 19,600 white Miami Heat T-shirts. This building is ready for the second-round playoff matchup of the century.
We're a couple hours away from game time. Stay tuned right here for updates from both coaches and both locker rooms between now and 3:30.
Two of the NBA's best teams have taken their talents to South Beach. This time, only one comes out alive.
8 a.m.: The Celtics aren't hiding it — they saw this one coming a mile away. They've had championship aspirations all year long, and so all year long, they knew they were due for a showdown with the Miami Heat.
"We assumed when they put this team together that if we wanted to put another banner up, we’d probably have to go through them," coach Doc Rivers said. "Now it's official. And that's good."
Indeed it is official. The Celtics and Heat open their best-of-seven playoff series at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, at American Airlines Arena in Miami. The C's swept the Knicks in the first round of the playoffs, while the Heat needed five games to get past the Sixers and reach round two. Now the two East heavyweights square off with a trip to the conference finals on the line.
The Celtics need this — it may be their last true chance to pursue a championship in the Big Three era. The Heat need it too — LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are sick and tired of losing to the Celtics in the playoffs, and this year is their chance to turn it around.
This is the series we were all waiting for, and now it's here.
"We knew it was going to probably eventually happen at one point or another," Paul Pierce said. "Before the season we knew, if we were going to where we needed to be as a championship team, we were going to have to play Miami. So now it's finally here, and I'm sure it's the much-anticipated battle everybody's been waiting on."
It sure is.
