Boston Celtics defeat Miami Heat on Opening Night
The most hyped opening night game ever had a playoff-like atmosphere and intensity, but only a preseason-level of basketball.
The Boston Celtics weathered a furious third quarter rally from LeBron James and survived 20 turnovers to win 88-80 against the Miami Heat Tuesday night at the TD Bank Garden.
Both teams were noticeably nervous during a sloppy, funky first quarter in which the Heat scored just nine points. To put that into perspective, Miami didn’t score fewer than 12 points in a quarter last season.
In the first quarter, Rajon Rondo alone looked like an NBA player, scoring one basket and assisting on the other six Celtics scores. Rondo scored just four points but engineered the Boston offense with 17 assists.
Offensively, Miami looked like they didn’t even have a playbook during the first half. James had five turnovers, Dwyane Wade added four himself, and Boston took a 45-30 lead into the half.
Boston maintained a 15-point lead midway through the third quarter until James caught fire and carried the Heat back into the game. After Paul Pierce was injured in a collision with James and left the court, James scored 11 points and tallied an assist over the Heat’s next eight possessions, closing the gap to six at the end of the third quarter.
Pierce (surprise, surprise) returned from the locker room and lead the Celtics to the win with 11 fourth quarter points, including two huge three-pointers that stretched the lead out to nine at critical junctures. Miami kept coming though, cutting the lead to three with just over a minute left after a corner three from Wade and a smooth baseline drive by James.
On the ensuing play, however, Ray Allen drove baseline, kicked the ball out to Pierce, kept running to the opposite corner, then received a pass from Pierce and drilled the game-icing three with 48 seconds left. Allen led the Celtics in scoring with 20 points on five three-pointers.
Boston will have no time to enjoy the victory as they head out to Cleveland to face the Cavaliers tomorrow night at seven.
Game Notes:
Shaq’s Debut Shaq played 18 minutes in his debut as a Boston Celtic, recording nine points and seven rebounds. Shaq had two thunderous first quarter dunks on great passes from Rondo.
Boston Bench Mob Glen Davis was the leader of the bench mob, tallying 13 points and five rebounds. Marquis Daniels added eight points for a bench that combined for 26 points.
LeBron Watch 10-21 FG, 31 points and eight turnovers.
Wade Watch 4-16 FG, 13 points and six turnovers.
Bosh or Bust? Where the hell was Chris Bosh, who was supposed to benefit so much from playing with LeBron and Wade? Bosh made only three of his 11 shots, scoring eight points and grabbing eight rebounds.
Related posts:
Celtics Blog | Tommy King | October 26, 2010
Boston Celtics, Dwyane Wade, Lebron James, Miami Heat, Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo
chris bosh is so softttttt—wade and lebron better take turns and both get 35 or there is no way they beating boston in a seriessssss
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I’ve yearned for Celtics basketball for so long, what a joy to watch them again!!
Rondo’s 17 assists were huge, even though the massive amount of turnovers recorded is an area of concern that must be quickly taken care of. Pre season basketball indeed.
As for the Heat, James took over in the second half to make them look like the Cavs, but I do not worry about them: they need a few games to build chemistry, given D-Wade’s injury.
Like Doc’s said in his postgame presser, they will be much harder to overcome the next time we’ll play against them.
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nice game, best thing is …we can do much more…go Cs
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The Heat will be great. It’s a process. I remember in 2007, when the Big Three came together, the C’s could out-talent most teams but lost their first game to the Pistons (who were mighty back then). Learning how to beat the best is a process.
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Good opening game and the defense was pret ty good overall. My only issue is that the Cs do not get more intense when they have leads of 18 pts+ and always seem to then coast or toss up lame shots (Rondo’s 3 in the 3rd qtr after no movement as he just dribbled and held the ball) that allow the other team back into the game. The Cs need to recognizre that what got them the lead was team play and aggressiveness and they should go for the jugular when in those situations. Get the score to 25+ or more and then pile it on. Don’t let up. I was getting a sickening feeling of deja vu and luckily (a missed 3 by PP or RA) they refocused but the Heat were right there. When a team is held to 9 pts in a qtr they should NEVER be back in any game and the Cs almost let disaster in the door by their relaxed play. A lot of good to build on though and Rondo and Shaq are really going to be special this year. Props to Davis & MD and the team rebounding, too. Go Cs…no let down tonight!!!
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