Game 7 awaits Saturday in South Beach.
Fourth quarter, 3:11, Heat 92-70: Consider the white flag waved. Ryan Hollins, Sean Williams, E'Twaun Moore, Marquis Daniels and Sasha Pavlovic were in to close out this one for the Celtics.
Fourth quarter, 7:43, Heat 87-64: As impressive as James had been, the Heat's defense clamped down just as impressively. The Celtics' field goal percentage dove from 50 percent to 42 percent, and when combined with James' offensive excellence, the Celtics had no answer. A few boos could even be heard from the less-expensive seats.
Fourth quarter, 10:18, Heat 81-63: Barring a miracle, this one was headed back to Miami. Wade made his appearance, hitting a short jumper and a nifty reverse layup as the Heat extended their lead farther.
End of third quarter, Heat 74-61: Rondo had a strong third quarter, but again it was nothing compared to James' dominance. James dropped 11 points in the frame to bring him to 41 points for the game, and Pierce continued his rough outing. Pierce took 12 shots in the quarter and only hit two of them, dropping him to 3-for-16 with six points in the game. On the plus side for the Celtics, he did not pick up another foul.
Third quarter, 2:09, Heat 72-61: James would not let the Heat die. Every time the Celtics made a dent, James answered. His 3-pointer while heavily defended by Pietrus pushed the Heat's lead back to 14 points, briefly. Allen cut into that with a jumper off a screen, but most likely James would have a response for that, too.
With more than two minutes left in the third quarter and a whole quarter left to play, James was at 39 points on 16-for-21 shooting. This was the performance Miami needed to stave off elimination.
Garnett picked up another technical foul, and it was difficult to argue against. He scored and tossed the ball at Battier, which may be ticky-tack, but Garnett did not need to grab the ball, either.
Third quarter, 8:36, Heat 60-48: The Celtics finally put together a burst, but not before Miami built its lead up to as many as 17 points. Garnett got untracked down low and Bass delivered the exclamation point with a putback two-handed dunk to complete Boston's push, if it can be called that. All things considered, all the Celtics succeeded in doing was cutting into their halftime deficit by one point. There was still much work to be done.
Halftime, Heat 55-42: The Celtics established a mason's union with their outside shooting in the first half, laying bricks on six of their seven 3-point attempts. More than that, though, their nine turnovers that turned into 12 Miami points essentially made up the difference in the first 24 minutes.
The Good: LeBron James made the first two quarters his personal playground with 30 points. He shot 12-for-14 from the field and 5-for-9 from the foul line. Go figure. … Kevin Garnett only scored eight points, the same amount as Brandon Bass, but he yet again expertly covered his teammates' backs defensively while also having to account for Chris Bosh.
The Bad: Dwyane Wade was trapped virtually every time he touched the ball and his production suffered. He was just 1-for-6 from the field, although he contiued to play hounding defense. … Paul Pierce has seldom had to labor as much as James has made him in this series. Once again Pierce got into early foul trouble, playing less than 15 minutes and picking up three personal fouls. He ended the first half with two points and two turnovers.
The So-so: Rajon Rondo hit seven of his 10 shots for 19 points, but the other areas of his game where Boston counts on him so much were not as sweet. He committed five turnovers, which had far more to do with the Celtics' deficit.
Second quarter, 2:58, Heat 45-35: Bass provided a spark for the Celtics on offense when they sorely needed one. His eight points, all in the second quarter, were still not enough to challenge the 25-point eruption for James. The King could be at 40 points well before the end of the third quarter at this rate.
Pierce had a heck of a time trying to guard him, too. The Truth picked up his third foul and had to go to the bench midway through the second quarter. Once again, Pierce was in foul trouble in a possible elimination game.
Second quarter, 8:24, Heat 36-23: This one had all the makings of a perfect Miami game. The Heat are at their best as frontrunners, and as long as they executed, it would be frontrunning from this point on.
James hit a couple of short jumpers, making it look so easy in a way that only fuels his doubters. Sometimes, he just looks like an adult playing a bunch of kids on a Nerf hoop.
Second quarter, 9:35, Heat 30-23: This crowd is all lubed up, as Tom Brady might say. Every replay on the board is bringing screams of indignation, which is the way it should be in Game 6 of the conference finals. Anything and everything will outrage these folks in this one.
So when something actually worth cheering happened — say, a wide-open 3-pointer by Allen — the roof exploded.
There was still a long way to go, though, and Miami remained the stronger team.
End of first quarter, Heat 26-16: The Celtics came out looking disjointed and sloppy, and if the Heat had done the same, the Celtics might have had them right where they wanted them.
The Heat were not sloppy in the slightest, though, particularly James. He scored 14 of the Heat's 26 points in the quarter while Miami shot 58 percent from the field and hit all three of their 3-point attempts. Meanwhile the Celtics committed five turnovers and shot only 7for-17 from the field, missing all four of their shots beyond the arc. They registered only one turnover, a sign of just how stagnant they were on offense.
First quarter, 2:28, Heat 22-14: James, as he often does, came out with energy and attacked the basket. He scored 12 of the Heat's first 22 points and gave them a 10-point lead with a 3-pointer from the wing. The Celtics needed a response, and they got it from Rondo with a quick driving layup, plus contact.
Still, Miami possessed the momentum early, despite the attempts of the TD Garden crowd to boost their team.
First quarter, 5:29, Heat 12-8: The Heat needed to show fire in the opening minutes, and they did in more ways than one.
Battier and Chalmers each knocked down a 3-pointer as the Heat ran out to an early lead. Chalmers then picked up a needless foul while jostling in the post with Allen, and then added a technical foul on top of that for arguing the call.
At the very least, Miami had a pulse, which is more than many people gave them credit for.
First quarter, 11:59, game tied 0-0: Yikes, this place is loud. Here we go.
8:12 p.m.: Rivers was highly complimentary of head athletic trainer Eddie Lacerte, while admitting that he loathed seeing Lacerte come around. The trainer got a lot of work in this season with all the injuries, both major and minor, to various Celtics players.
"Eddie, we call him our MVP all the time," Rivers said.
It appears Bosh will not start in this game, although Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said that there will be no minute restrictions on the forward.
The probable starting lineups appear below.
Heat
Udonis Haslem
Shane Battier
LeBron James
Dwyane Wade
Mario Chalmers
Celtics
Kevin Garnett
Brandon Bass
Paul Pierce
Ray Allen
Rajon Rondo
7:50 p.m.: If Chris Bosh starts for the Heat, which still is not a given, it will not affect the Celtics' gameplan one iota, Boston head coach Doc Rivers reiterated in his pregame media availability.
"It doesn't affect us," Rivers said. "Like I said all year, we don't change a lot. We don't have the ability to change a lot."
The Celtics will let the game dictate how often they go to their small lineup that has been so successful in stretches during this series, Rivers added. There may be times Bosh and Garnett are the only bigs on the floor, although Rivers also expected Bosh and Udonis Haslem to share some time on the court as well.
5:30 p.m.: All it takes is one win.
The Celtics have a chance to knock off the Miami Heat on Thursday night at TD Garden in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals. If they do, not only will they leave the Heat in disarray, they will have clinched yet another NBA Finals appearance.
If the Celtics are able to reach the Finals, it will be their third trip since the beginning of this "Big Three" era, an era that started with an NBA title in 2008.
For the Heat, it's desperation time. Their are legacies on the line, as the perception that LeBron James and this Heat team can't win when it matters most will creep toward reality with a loss to this Celtics team.
There are plenty of storylines for this one, and it should be a rowdy environment in front of a Garden crowd that would love nothing more to see the Celtics send the Heat packing on the parquet.
Stay with us all night for updates from the Garden.
