Is that a Heisman pose?

Lebron James is probably headed to Miami to form a super-team, say reports published by Newsday, ESPN and Yahoo! Here’s ESPN’s report:

All indications are that LeBron James is leaning toward signing with the Miami Heat on Thursday night, according to several sources with knowledge of the situation.

Barring a late change of heart, sources say James has decided to join fellow All-Stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to form a potential NBA powerhouse. 

James will make his announcement from the Boys and Girls Club of Greenwich, Conn., during an hourlong special called “The Decision” on ESPN at 9 p.m. ET Thursday. Sales of sponsorship for the program will go to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

Chris Paul, one of James’ best friends, has urged him to stay in Cleveland and let new Cavaliers coach Byron Scott coach him, according to sources. With such strong sentiment around him to not go to Miami, it’s possible James could alter his decision.

James’ family and friends are divided over his decision to play in Miami, according to sources. Opinions range from understanding his desire to play with All-Star teammates, to feeling he is selling himself short by joining Wade’s team, to concerns that playing on such a power-packed squad will hurt his brand even if he wins championships.

James worked hard to help the Cavaliers improve their roster, sources said. He tried to sell Bosh on the idea of going to Cleveland, but the 6-foot-11 forward was adamant he did not want to play in northeast Ohio.

While sources close to James insist his heart is in Cleveland and remaining with the Cavaliers was his preferred choice, they say he had concerns about signing a six-year deal there and ending up “31 years old, with bad knees and no title.”

A few thoughts:

1) I’ll believe this when Lebron announces it tonight. Lebron and his camp are fully capable of leaking false news in order to create more hype about “The Decision.” As if it needs any more.

2) I could never imagine Lebron at 31 years old with bad knees and no title.

3) If Lebron does sign with Miami, the Heat are going to have to surround the newest Big Three with veteran minimum guys. People are going to clamor that the team might not be deep enough to win a title. I’m here to remind you that it won’t matter.

Assuming Bosh doesn’t have a sign-and-trade coming, the Heat would have a starting lineup of Wade/James/Bosh/Beasley/Chalmers. The backups? Who cares. Sign me, my three dogs and my grandmother as a second unit and we couldn’t blow the leads Wade and James will get. But if they sign Kurt Thomas, Kyle Korver, T-Mac, Anthony Carter and Juwan Howard or five guys similar to that, all of a sudden that bench ain’t too atrocious. And ”not too atrocious” is all the bench would need to be.

If Lebron actually signs in Miami, I’ll undoubtedly have nightmares all offseason. But if I lived in Miami-Wade County, I wouldn’t count my Lebron before it hatches.

P.S. – Stephen A. Smith is reporting that Stephen A. Smith might have been right all along.

High fives all around.

This one was getting ugly.  Boston was dominant.  Doc Rivers was pondering how to defend Lebron James. Dwyane Wade was — for him, at least — dormant.  The Celtic lead became twenty.

And then it was gone.  But not all of it.  The Celtics would hold on to the victory, playing just well enough down the stretch to escape with a 96-86 victory and advance to the second round.

A third-quarter Celtics lapse, occurring mostly as a Heat zone disrupted the rhythm of Boston’s second unit, briefly helped Miami make this one interesting, but Boston’s lead was too much for Wade and his overachieving troop of scrubs to overcome. A barrage of jumpers from the Big Three, including an especially hot display from Ray Allen, ended Miami’s quest to extend its season one more game.

Allen finished with 24 points on 5-6 three-point shooting, Paul Pierce scored 21 points, and Kevin Garnett added 14 points and 8 rebounds, hitting two big shots midway through the fourth quarter to help drive a dagger through Miami’s heart.  While the Big Three provided most of the scoring, it was Rajon Rondo who was again the best Celtic.  He was dominant on both ends in the first half with 12 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals, and ended the game only two rebounds short of a triple-double (16 points, 12 assists, 8 rebounds, 4 steals).

For Miami, only Mario Chalmers — who broke out in a big way with 20 points and some three-pointers that helped key Miami’s third-quarter run — joined Wade in double figures.  As expected, Wade (31 points, 10 assists, 8 rebounds) led the way but — for the first time all series — Boston kept Wade’s field goal percentage down, making him work for his shots.  Constant double-teams, good rotations, and a perennial hand in Wade’s face helped contain him.  He wasn’t stopped, not by any means, but the Celtics can live with a 10-24 shooting performance from the superstar.

For two and a half quarters, the Celtics really looked like they were going to run away with this one.  Only another warm batch of Celtics turnovers and questionable officiating (I really thought tonight was going to be the night Tommy finally got a mid-game heart attack) kept the game from being a blowout at halftime, and the crowd threatened to blow the roof off the Garden as the lead ballooned to 20 in the third.

But it wasn’t meant to be that easy, not that the amount of ease matters.  All that matters is that the Celtics are now in the second round.

Hey Lebron, you’re next.

*****

Game Notes:

• If the Cavs finish off the Bulls tonight, Game One will be on Saturday.  If not, it won’t be until Monday.
• Jermaine O’Neal had a couple nice dunks, and that’s about all you can say about the positives he brought to the table this series.  Well, I guess you could say he blocked Glen Davis a few times, but even my dog could block Glen Davis.  For O’Neal, the offseason couldn’t have come at a better time.
• Quentin Richardson played like an actress.  Actually, I think even Julia Roberts could have outplayed Richardson on this night: He played 38 minutes and tallied 4 points, 3 rebounds and 0 assists.  Enjoy watching the second round from home, Q.
• Michael Beasley was benched for a large portion of the second half (the whole second half?).  Erik Spoelstra had clearly seen enough of his new haircut… well, that and his half-hearted play.
• Rasheed Wallace only played 9 minutes and notched 2 points and 3 rebounds, but looked more alive than he has in a long time.
• Glen Davis, and his dance.  I cannot attempt to describe it.  I will try to find a video of it for tomorrow.

Anyone else remember this flop?

The Boston Celtics don’t want warm weather, and they don’t want nice beaches.  They don’t want to be anywhere near the sinful strip of clubs as notorious as any east of Vegas.  Eff all the palm trees, too.

The Celtics don’t want any part of Miami.  If they step foot in that beautiful, warm city again, they’ll be furious.

“There’s a lot of urgency,” Paul Pierce told ESPNBoston regarding tonight’s Game Five. “We don’t want to go back to Miami. The next time I go to Miami, I hope I’m on vacation. Right now, we’re just trying to get it done at home.”

A sweep is no longer possible, but an easy series is still more than manageable.  Nobody in Boston would mind a five-game victory against the Miami Heat to lead the Celtics to the second round.  That would afford the old geezers more than enough rest for the second round, where they would likely meet the King on a Mission, Lebron James.

But enough about what could possibly await Boston in round two.  The here and now is round one.  The Celtics came within a hair of eliminating the Miami Heat in a rare sweep, but Dwyane Wade’s magical shooting hand kept the Heat from the ignominious fate.  The Celtics will again have to deal with Wade in Game Five as they try to close out the Heat once and for all.

“Wade scored 46, but he’s Dwyane Wade,” said Doc Rivers. “Shooting 66 percent, that’s the bigger number for us. The 46 we can live with, if [he shoots] 34 percent. … He’s dominating the series and we have to do a better job on him.”

Rivers told the Boston Herald there is no such thing as a Wade stopper.

“If it was that easy, he wouldn’t be Dwyane Wade,” Rivers said. “If I can find a guy in the league that can just keep Dwyane Wade in front of him whenever he wants to, we’re signing him. Hopefully (owner Wyc Grousbeck) has some more money to give and we’re going to go get him. It’s going to be a team effort. It’s not going to be one guy.”

While Wade has done the most damage, Paul Pierce cautions that it’s the contributions of other players that break the Celtics’ backs.  Wade is going to get his, but the other guy’s can’t.

“We can’t let the other guys have big games,” said Pierce. “We can’t let [Quentin] Richardson go out here and have a big game, 20 points in the playoffs. Other guys like [Carlos] Arroyo and [Michael] Beasley can’t have big games. Wade’s going to have the ball most of the time, we gotta expect him to have big games because of that. But it’s the other guys. And I’m a big part of that as the guy guarding Quentin Richardson.”

In case you forgot, Q was the warmup act for Wade’s fourth-quarter heroics, scoring 13 points in the first quarter on his way to 20 big ones. “I’m done talking to those guys and going back and forth,” said Richardson, who will shake off a bruised left hand to play in Game Five. “I was here to win the game. He wanted to have a conversation -talk to (your) teammates.”

But Pierce, and the Celtics, don’t want talk to be the story anymore either. Actually, scratch that.

They don’t care what the story is, so long as it ends with anything but a return to Miami.

*****
Required Reading:

• NBA.com’s Jon Schuhmann examines the Celtics by the numbers.  My breakdown of his article?  Offensive rebounds, bad –  Defensive rebounds, good.  Games Three and Four, bad –  Games One and Two, good.  And the turnovers, as always, need to be limited.
• Celtics Hub’s Zach Lowe breaks down an x-factor: Dwayne Wade defending Rajon Rondo. Though Wade guarding Rondo ended poorly for the Celtics, they got good shots.
• Red’s Army has video of the lost fourth quarter from Game Two.  If you live outside the New England area, you haven’t seen it yet.
• Red Auerbach as Leonardo Da Vinci.

The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn’t mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

Doc saw some problems with Game Four.

Dan Duggan, Boston Herald – “The 6-foot-4 scoring machine [Dwyane Wade] is averaging 33.8 points, six assists and five rebounds while shooting 60.5 percent from the field during the series. Those are the type of numbers that cause an opposing coach to hold film sessions three times as long as usual. That’s what the Celtics did yesterday, spending an hour watching film before hitting the practice floor for another 60 minutes. ‘A lot of stopping and starting and then explaining and then re-explaining, and that happens,’ Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. ‘That happens when you win sometimes, too. I thought we needed to watch it.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “‘I think when you’re watching film, and you’re pointing out some of the same themes that you’re doing wrong at both ends of the floor, you don’t mind watching,’ said [Ray] Allen. ‘As a team, we’re so keyed in to trying to figure out what we need to do to be better. When we watch film, the film doesn’t lie — the position we’re in, getting better position, making the extra pass on offense, seeing what they’re doing against us. It’s the best piece of education we own. We walk out of film session feeling so relieved. We understand why certain things happened. We get to that problem and keep certain things from happening again.’”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “‘I thought for the most part everybody wanted to get this settled in Miami,’ said Garnett. ‘And do it with one shot or one pass.’ In some cases, watching how it all played out makes everything clear. ‘When you’re watching film and it’s pointing out some of the same themes of what you’re doing wrong on both ends of the floor, you don’t mind watching it. As a team right now I think we’re so keyed in we’re trying to figure out what we’re trying to do to get better. The position we’re in, getting better position, making the extra pass on offense, seeing what they’re doing against us, it’s the best piece of education we own. We walk out of the film session feeling so relieved. We understand why certain things happened. We get to that problem and keep certain things from happening again.’ For Paul Pierce, the Celtics’ mistakes were evident while he was on the floor. ‘I noticed everything yesterday,’ Pierce said. ‘I saw it all. Up close and personal. I was there to see it all. We had our chances to put it away, obviously. Some late plays down the stretch. Hopefully we’re a lot better, especially at home to close this thing out.’”

Celtics Insider, Boston Herald – “All of that seems to suggest that Wade’s outburst in this series — and Game 4 in particular — has been a fluke. The numbers rarely lie, and in Wade’s case they say he’s a below average 3-pointer. But is this hot streak a fluke? Here’s how Wade explained his 3-point shooting after today’s practice. (Quotes courtesy of Herald friend Ira Winderman, who covers the Heat for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel). ‘I shoot more threes in the playoffs, anyway,’ Wade said. ‘I play around through the season. But I shoot more threes in the playoffs anyway and I work on them a lot more and I’m very confident. And I know if I hit one, I can get on a roll.’”

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “‘I didn’t think we had the same defensive urgency we had in Game 1 or Game 2,’ Rivers said. ‘You can’t change much [with Wade]. You have to do a little bit better in what you are doing and if he’s making shots, he’s making shots. It’s tough for anybody guarding Dwyane Wade, Derrick Rose, LeBron James. We knew that going into the series. Dwyane Wade’s a great player, give him that, but we’re going to defend him. It’s going to be tough. If I can find a guy in the league that can keep Dwyane Wade in front of him whenever he wants to, we’ll sign him. Hopefully [principal owner] Wyc [Grousbeck] has some more money and we’ll get him. It’s going to be a team effort, not one guy.’ Wade is a career 48 percent shooter, but he is shooting 60 percent in this series, a disturbing statistic for a Celtics team that has long prided itself on containing high-scoring players. Wade missed 19 shots during that Jan. 6 game. Sunday he missed eight.”

Greg Cote, Miami Herald – “Then Beasley said something interesting. He said, ‘the pressure is when [Wade] has an off night and he’s 6 for 20 or something. That’s when the pressure comes. When somebody’s got to step up.’ It can’t be one or the other if Miami is to win Game 5 and keep winning. It has to be Wade on his game and others stepping up. Start with O’Neal, whose 6-for-34 shooting in four playoff games (17.6 percent) amounts to the worst offensive stretch in his long career. One of O’Neal’s tattoos reads, `For The Love Of God.’ And one can imagine that has been the exclamatory of many Heat fans watching his shots go awry, as in: ‘For the love of God, will you please make a [bleep]ing basket!’”

Michael Wallace, Miami Herald – “After dropping a career playoff-high 46 points, setting three Heat postseason records and making every play to stave off elimination in his last game, Dwyane Wade was asked to comply with just one request: ‘Keep it going,’ teammate Dorell Wright said after practice Monday. ‘When he’s playing like that, you just want to see it keep going. I’m sure that hot hand will still be there in Game 5.’ In other words, Wade just might have to deliver an encore to Game 4 if Miami has any chance to keep its postseason alive entering Tuesday’s game against Boston at TD Garden.”

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun Sentinel – “Need to sum up the theme of the night in a simple catchphrase? Then summon Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. Sunday, when the theme was ‘reveal,’ you could hardly miss it before the game in the locker room or after the game as the Heat savored the 101-92 victory over the Boston Celtics that kept it afloat in this best-of-seven opening-round NBA playoff series that now shifts to TD Garden for Tuesday’s Game 5. ‘When you start preparing for each specific team, sometimes there’s a specific key that kind of supersedes everything else,” the second-year coach said. “An 82-game season is a long grind, and sometimes there’s one key word that might be the most meaningful thing, not only for that game, but for the last 48 hours, something that we’ve stressed and we need to focus on.’ It is difficult not to focus on the nightly Spoelstra-isms. They are everywhere, the phrase often repeated four, five, six times on the nightly scouting board. The points are reiterated by Spoelstra in his pregame media sessions, in his separately recorded pregame radio interview and then his pregame speech face to face to his players. ‘I see it when I first come in and it kind of snaps me into that mode,” veteran forward Quentin Richardson said of catchphrases that have ranged from ‘energy player’ to ‘finish’ to ‘starters set the tone.’ They are ubiquitous on the strategy board that frames the big screen in the home locker room and a portable strategy board set up in the middle of the locker room on the road, as it will be Tuesday at TD Garden. ‘When I first come in, I look at the board,’ Richardson said. ‘When I’m sitting here, changing, I look at the board. So I’ll be really into what he’s saying already and knowing what he’s talking about by the time he brings it up.’”

Michael Wallace, Miami Herald – “Heat forward Quentin Richardson was cleared to play Tuesday after an X-ray and MRI on his bruised left hand were negative. Richardson sustained the injury in Sunday’s victory against the Celtics and had his left ring finger immobilized after the game. He will wear a protective splint. ‘No matter what it was, I was going to play,’ Richardson said. ‘Nobody had to even worry about that part.’”

Have a link I might want to look at? Send it my way by email (jayking@celticstown.com) or Twitter.

Wade's performance was unfair, but it only delays the inevitable.

When the Miami Heat pounced on the Boston Celtics, staggering them with two first-quarter runs of 12 and 14 points and entering the second quarter ahead 31-18, I was stunned.

Down 3-0, I figured the Heat would roll over and play dead rather than win just to force the series back to Boston.  “I know a lot of people expected us to roll over and just give them the series because they were up, 3-0,’’ Dwayne Wade told the Boston Globe. After all, who wants to fly across the whole damn country, when you can stay in South Beach and begin enjoying the offseason?

And then the game started, and Boston — in Doc Rivers’ words — tried to throw a haymaker, but instead played more like Tony in Blue Chips… ya know, the player who shaved points by throwing the ball to the wrong team.  Boston breathed life into the Miami players by continually feeding them the ball and starting fast breaks, and Miami started the game off on a roll.

Later, when Boston surged seven points ahead with an extended run of their own, I again thought Miami would fold like a lawn chair.  Oh, how wrong I was.

“We didn’t break,’’ Wade said. “When they took the lead, we never broke, and that’s the biggest thing and that’s the turning point from any other game. We stayed with it even when it looked bad and it was like, ‘OK here comes another one.’ We made the plays we needed.’’

Being down seven points only made it more dramatic when Dwyane Wade got hotter than a mid-summer day in hell.

“We were just playing for the moment,’’ center Joel Anthony said. “We understood what was on the line. This is our season that we’re playing for. It was just about doing your job. Everyone knows what their role is on the team and what they’re supposed to do.’’

“It would have been so easy for all of us just to quit,’’ Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Who wants to really think about getting on a plane to Boston? But now you play in front of a crowd like this, you get inspired. Your captain plays like that, you better believe this group is inspired to find some way to get this thing back in front of those fans.’’

So now Miami makes the trip up north, still massive underdogs trying to succeed at a feat never before accomplished — coming back from a 3-0 series deficit.

“If there’s any team in the NBA that can win four straight,” Michael Beasley told the Miami Herald, “we can do it.”

The Heat are dreaming big and, because of a steely resolve cemented by Dwyane Wade’s flurry, those dreams remain alive.

But something tells me they’re going to feel the dreaded pinch soon.  It’s almost time to wake up.

Wade did his best, but it wasnt enough.

I’ve seen it so many times I knew what was going to happen.  I told my friends the play before it even occurred.  Paul Pierce caught it at the top of the key. Dribbled around, wasting time.  Dribbled to his right, stepped to the right side with his left foot, used that left foot to propel him backwards and create separation, shot the fadeaway jumper.  Splash. Game over. Did anyone not know what was coming?

With a three -zip lead on the line and Dwyane Wade in the opposing uniform, the Boston Celtics knew nothing was going to come easy.  The series — and Miami’s season — was on the line, and Wade performed like a superstar should when his team stares a long summer in the face.  Unfortunately for Wade and the Miami Heat, the Celtics have some stars too, and even the old ones have some gas left in the tank.  Boston’s old geezers led the way to a 100-98 victory and a seemingly insurmountable 3-0 series lead.

Ray Allen brought the Celtics most of the way there, and The Truth set them free. Pierce’s buzzer-beater stole the headlines and the glory, but the rest of his second half was just as integral.  Pierce ended with 32 points, creating his own offense like it was 2008.  And Walter Ray Allen was Walter Ray Allen.  25 points for Ray, including an off-balance, on-the-move three-pointer to put the Celtics up one with only a couple minutes left.  It was another clutch moment from Jesus, but would soon be overshadowed by Pierce’s dagger that — for all intents and purposes — put the Boston Celtics in the second round.

Other things happened, too. Dwyane Wade scored a lot of points (34), and then limped off the court after his final shot. Rajon Rondo had 17 points and 8 assists.  Dorell Wright acted like he wasn’t Dorell Wright.  Jermaine O’Neal somehow lowered his shooting percentage for the series (1-7 shooting).  Michael Beasley awoke from his deep slumber.  Miami’s bench outscored Boston’s, 39-10.

But none of it mattered.  Not as much as Pierce’s game-winning, series-ending jumper at least.  While the Celtics still need one more win to technically finish out the series, only one question remains for the C’s:

Can they beat Cleveland in the second round?