The glorious taste of heart-wrenching defeat.

Bob Ryan, Boston Globe – “‘In the regular season, if something happened the way it did tonight in the fourth quarter, it would have been, ‘Man, you’ve gotta do this, you’ve gotta do that,’ ‘ said Allen. ‘Now we’re all helping each other.’ Winning Game 3 when you’re up, 2-0, is huge, and it’s something the Celtics haven’t done since defeating Indiana in a best-of-five in 2002. ‘I’ve got to tell you,’ Rivers said. ‘In the first quarter, I said, ‘I don’t know if we’re going to win or lose, but we’re here.’ ‘ Welcome back, boys.”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “‘And it’s coming at the right time,’ Perkins said. ‘At the start of the season, we had kind of . . . we were trying to send a message.’ Message sent. ‘Those are great players that have been in a lot of playoff games and pressure games and made those shots before,’ said Heat guard/forward Quentin Richardson. Added Dwyane Wade: “This team is good. They have a lot of veteran guys who step up to the billing and do it. They all do their job. It’s unfortunate and it hurts.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “‘I was ready for them to come foul and I was going to try to get a shot up, but they didn’t come,” said Pierce. “I just got to my little sweet spot on the right elbow and got a good look at the rim. It was a tight game and I was feeling pretty good about my game, especially in my mid-range. I just wanted to have the ball in my hands and be aggressive.’ Said the 6-foot-9 Wright: ‘I gave him some space to close out on, but he made a tough shot.’ Pierce’s teammates felt good with the game in his hands. ‘We put our faith in his hands that last shot,’ said Allen. ‘He came through for us. It’s great to have somebody that can make shots like that at the buzzer.’ Echoed Kendrick Perkins: ‘That’s the Truth. He lives for games like this. I expected him to do that tonight. He was attacking and his jumper was falling.’ But those winning shots hadn’t fallen in a while for Pierce. Not since 2006 say the statistics. But his coach never lost faith. ‘He is a star,’ said Rivers. ‘He never loses his confidence. The play before that Ray missed, Paul glanced over and you could tell he wanted the ball. You always like when your players do that. … He hasn’t played great in the first two games, but you could feel before this game he was starting to get his rhythm. And when he gets his rhythm. He is really good.’”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “‘He was huge – that’s the Truth, he lives for games like this,’ Celts center Kendrick Perkins said. ‘I expected him to do that tonight. He was attacking, and his jumper was falling.’ And there was nothing that Wright could do to stop it. ‘He’s a big-time player, and I definitely knew he was going to take the last shot,’ the Miami swingman said. ‘I just tried to give him the best defense I could. It’s definitely hard, especially when they make shots like that. But give it to Paul. I played him the best I could.’”

Israel Gutierrez, Miami Herald – “Just watching the Celtics run their play, there were terrifying options everywhere. Would Allen shake free of Mario Chalmers and hit yet another jumper? Would Udonis Haslem help too much off Kevin Garnett and leave him to take the final shot? Would Rajon Rondo create havoc off the dribble with Quentin Richardson forced to defend him while Wade was being treated on the bench? Pierce knew he’d have one defender on him. And in the NBA, one-on-one normally means murder for the defender. Pierce got Wright slightly off balance, stepped back and released. It was his comfort shot. Wade didn’t get that privilege. Hence the results. It’s the way it’s supposed to end, really. Because a Heat win Friday would’ve been provided nothing but false confidence.”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “‘Obviously my scoring’s been down,’ Pierce said of his production the last three years. ‘I’ve tried to do other things and bring to the game what the game needs that day. Obviously they didn’t need me to score 30 points in Game 1 or Game 2. I had to do the other intangibles to help my team win. Tonight it was just one of those nights. That’s what I try to do night in and night out: just figure out what role I’ll play that night. It’s not going to always be my scoring. Those days are over with for putting the load on my shoulders and having to score 30 every night. I just try to pick my spots and give the game what I feel like it needs. Tonight I felt like it did need my scoring, and I filled it. We were on the road, and I decided to be a little bit more aggressive. And it paid off.’ It’s even more rewarding for Pierce, in that this comes in a season when he’s been drawing down his bodily debit card. He’s had his knee drained, his ankle and foot bruised and his twisted left thumb pulled from its mooring. ‘This has been one of my more trying seasons, man, to tell you the truth,” Pierce said. “I’ve never been injured this much in my career. I had a surgery. It just seemed like it was coming back to back to back. After my knee surgery, I had a sprained ankle then right after that a sprained thumb. It was very trying because I’ve been used to playing through a lot of injuries. And at this point in my career, this age, I don’t heal as quickly as I used to. I learned a lot about myself, a lot about my body this year. I learned to take more rest, because I’m not the 24-25-year-old Paul Pierce who can bounce back as quick. I just have to allow myself to heal. That’s why I struggled and had so many inconsistencies in the middle of the season.’”

Chris Perkins, NBA.com – “‘The Celtics are starting to play well,’ Boston center Kendrick Perkins said. The fact that Celtics forward Paul Pierce hit a 21-foot jumper as time expired to deliver a dramatic 100-98 Game 3 victory at AmericanAirlines Arena Friday only tells part of the story of how Boston has taken a commanding 3-0 lead in this first-round playoff series. ‘We’re a veteran team,’ said Pierce, whose step-back jumper over Miami’s Dorell Wright was good as soon as it left his hand, ‘and we don’t get rattled, especially in crucial situations.’”

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “‘I got on Perk a little bit because I just told him to remember who he is,’ Rivers said. ‘You’re playing great defense and you’re rebounding. So what, you’re missing layups. Just don’t let that take you out of your job. You could see his shoulders slumped. Everybody was like, ‘C’mon man,’ because he’s so important for us when he plays well. And it’s tough to play when your spirit is down. I was glad to see him on the floor and he made some great defensive plays for us.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “Wade spilled to the floor clutching his left knee area after the cramps intensified when he missed a 3-point attempt in a tied game with 11 seconds to go. Boston hauled in the rebound and called a timeout to draw up a final play. Wade was attended to by trainers, then carried off the court, putting no weight on the leg. ‘I was just cramping up the last five minutes of the fourth [quarter],’ said Wade, who Spoelstra said sweat through two jerseys during the game and could be seen getting his left leg massaged near the bench during the final frame. ‘I was trying to hold it off as much as possible. When I bent down to shoot the shot, it came. It was a bad cramp. I couldn’t even bend my legs. I didn’t step on [the defender's] foot. It’s nothing serious, just cramping.’”

Michael Wallace, Miami Herald – “No team in NBA history has come back to win a series after losing the first three games. The Heat might not even have the legs to rally in Game 4 on Sunday at AmericanAirlines Arena. That is because Heat guard Dwyane Wade didn’t have the legs to finish Friday night. Wade had 34 points and eight assists, but left the game with 11 seconds left because of severe cramps in his left leg. Wade fell to the ground after he missed a three-point attempt from the top of the key with 13 seconds left. He was helped off by trainer Jay Sabol and center Jamaal Magloire and didn’t return. ‘I wanted to attack, and I wanted to be aggressive,’ Wade said. ‘I had nothing. I was trying to fight through it. The basketball gods were with [Boston] because I wasn’t able to put pressure on it.’”

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