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.

A Celtics win tonight all but deletes the Heat.

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “For the first time since the start of the season, the Celtics are trying to demoralize an opponent. The Heat are trying to figure out if they were the team they thought they were, having won 18 of 22 coming into the postseason. The Celtics are at a point where they can play a game without their star forward, knowing that his understudy feels no pressure filling his role. Miami is at a point where its star player can feel the load on his shoulders getting heavier and heavier, and even though he says he has faith in his teammates, he’s growing tired of answering for them. Going into Game 3 tonight in Miami, the Celtics are taking a ‘nothing is guaranteed’ attitude even though they’ve won all five meetings this season with the Heat. Miami finds itself in a “must-win’’ position against a team it hasn’t been able to beat. Both teams have their finger on the button. Boston’s says ‘delete.’ Miami’s says ‘panic.’”

Jeff Clark, CelticsBlog – “Despite being up 2-0, I think this game is very important to the Celtics. Not a “must win” (perhaps the most overused phrase in sports around playoff time) but an important game for momentum purposes. Give the Heat a win with their home crowd behind them and they might just gain enough confidence to take another win. Then they’re the ones with the momentum headed back to Boston and the script is flipped. Does anyone have enough confidence in this team’s mental fortitude after watching them limp home with a .500 record since Christmas?”

Michael Wallace, Miami Herald – Home hasn’t necessarily been comfortable for either team this season. Boston and Miami both finished 24-17, which was tied for the worst home record among 16 playoff teams. But the Heat has won 10 of its past 13 at home and hopes to ride its ‘Black is Back’ theme to victories Friday and Sunday to even the series. Still, it’s going to take more than friendlier confines to help rally against the Celtics, who have won 13 of the past 14 matchups between the teams. ‘Being at home helps a lot,’ Heat center Jermaine O’Neal said. ‘It helps to have that energy in the building that’s for you and not against you. But for this team right now, it doesn’t matter if we played in the sand in South Beach or wherever. We have to bring a different focus.’”

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “The frustrated Wade has taken to scoring binges because he has lost faith in his teammates. And although he won’t publicly admonish O’Neal, Michael Beasley, Udonis Haslem, and Dorell Wright, they know they have let him down. Those customary Haslem baseline jumpers have rimmed off, and he has not been the defensive or rebounding menace of years past. ‘We’ve got to play a whole game,’ he said. ‘We haven’t played a complete game against these guys yet and that’s the most disappointing thing about it. Looking at the film and seeing some of the mistakes that we made that are so uncharacteristic of how we play, you know it’s disappointing. I’m not going to sit here and say all the mistakes are our mistakes and [the Celtics] have nothing to do with it. Just because we miss shots doesn’t mean we have to go from down 2 to down 20.’”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “‘We’re not spring chickens,’ [Doc Rivers] said. Therefore, if they go weary into a series with Cleveland, they will be dead ducks. But therein lies the neatly placed mousetrap. The Celtics must heed the need to prepare for an impending series with the Cavaliers, but they have to concentrate totally on the Heat to accomplish the goal. ‘Yeah, I’m not even going there, though,’ said Rivers, whose team holds a 2-0 lead in this first-round matchup. ‘I’m not even talking about another series. I just won’t. We’ve just got to focus on Miami, and whatever happens after that . . . Getting a series over with quick is good for everyone, honestly. But yeah, it would be helpful for us.’”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “Udonis Haslem remembers a playoff series not that long ago in which the Heat were down 2-0 and, by all accounts, presumed dead on arrival when they returned home. It was the 2006 NBA Finals when they rallied from a 2-0 series hole to win the best-of-seven series in six games over the Dallas Mavericks. ‘I’ve been here before,’ Haslem said. ‘I’m not rattled or anything like that. A little disappointed. I felt we had an opportunity to get one game. But we’re still confident. We understand it’s a long series.’ But it won’t be long if they lose on Friday night, a point that is not lost on Wade. ‘It’s a game we have win. There’s no question about it,’ Wade said. ‘If they win the ball game, that’s the toughest series in the world right there, trying to come back from 3-0. You have to keep the perspective that the series doesn’t start until someone wins on the other team’s court. So we have to come home and take care of our home court.’”

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun-Sentinel – “While he continually stressed vigor and force after Thursday’s practice, Spoelstra said there would be an effort to draw more out of center Jermaine O’Neal and forward Michael Beasley, who have combined for 29 total points over the first two games. ‘We do need to have more involvement,’ Spoelstra said. ‘Guys need to be aggressive within the system, take plays off the ball movement. I think you’ll see Jermaine and Michael much more involved. It’ll be a concerted effort, also, on our part, to get them involved, but then for them to be aggressive and make the appropriate reads.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “Celtics forward Rasheed Wallace has been fined $35,000 for publicly criticizing game officials in comments made to the media on April 19. The announcement was made Thursday by NBA executive vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson.”

Scott Howard Cooper, NBA.com – ““I wish I had it to do all over again and, starting 20 years ago, I’d be suspending Phil and Pat Riley for all the games they play in the media,” Stern said in a press conference at the Ford Center moments before Game 3 of the Lakers-Thunder series. “You guys know that our referees go out there and knock themselves out to do the best job they can, but we’ve got coaches who will do whatever takes to work them publicly. And what that does is erode fan confidence and then you get some of the situations that we have. So our coaches should be quiet, because this is a good business that makes them good livings and supports a lot of families. And if they don’t like it, they should go get a job someplace else. I don’t mean to be too subtle. [Laughter] And I think that Phil’s a great coach. He’s a friend of many years. I just came by and said, ‘Hi.’ And he said, ‘I don’t like you today.’ I said, ‘I like you.’ But it’s corrosive. It’s corrosive. Because of the pressure cooker that is the NBA playoffs, over the years I’ve let it go. But when you hear the Chicago coach [Jackson] say, ‘Oh, this game was lost because NBC wants an extra game,’ you hear a New York coach [Riley] say, ‘Well, you know, what are you gonna do? Jordan gets all the calls,’ it sounds like a lot of fun, etcetera. Or you hear a Stan Van Gundy do what he wants to say and then the players join. We know, inside the community, what it’s meant to do. So, OK, it’s playoff time, everyone’s crazy. Back off. But if I had to do it again, I wouldn’t. I would stop it and the price wouldn’t be a modest $35,000 fine. It would be whatever a day’s pay is, and then two days pay, and then a week’s pay. And if someone wants to try me the rest of this playoffs, make my day. The game is too important and I don’t think that the people who trash it are respecting it, and we’ll do what we have to do. Players and coaches alike. They give the impression to our fans that referees somehow have an agenda. Yeah, they have an agenda – to knock themselves out to give the best calls that they can give, and then to send their checks home to their mothers and give the rest to charity.’”

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

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.

There's Perk.

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “The Celtics went back down to battle the Hawks in what they thought would be a warm-up of a first-round series. Having waxed the Hawks by a combined 42 points in the first two games of the series, they figured they’d grab two wins, head back north, and rest up for the second round. Two losses later, they were thinking otherwise. ‘That’s all I think about now,’ Ray Allen said. ‘It resonates so big with this team now, because we were flying high, up two. We blew them out both games in our building. We had all played in that building before. We didn’t expect what we saw.’ The Hawks were playing their first home playoff games since 1999, and even though there were actually fewer people in the building than there were in the late-season meeting, there was more emotion. ‘When we went and played them playoff time, it was a totally different atmosphere,’ Garnett said. ‘I can honestly say it was a shell-shock to our team.’ ‘That building carried them to two victories there,’ Allen said. ‘You think about how that building is now. In the last two years, they’ve got great fan support, and I think it started right there in the playoffs two years ago.’”

Paul Flannery, WEEI – “‘Yeah, absolutely,’ Doc Rivers said. ‘I told them that. Guys, at the end of the day all we’ve done is win two home games and Miami has yet to play a home game. That’s how they’re thinking for sure. Whether we won last by one, or whatever we won by, Game 3 is going to tough and we understand that.’ Kevin Garnett noted that when he traveled to Miami for the Eastern Conference Finals in 2006 to watch Chauncey Billups and Rasheed Wallace play with the Pistons that the crowd was a factor. ‘Just anticipating it being very hostile,’ Garnett said. ‘Watching Chauncey and Rasheed play them, how hostile and how crazy that town can get when they’re behind their team. It’s what we’re anticipating.’”

Dan Duggan, Boston Herald – “The C’s are expecting the Heat’s best shot in Game 3. ‘We’re figuring their backs are against the wall and they’re thinking that, if they don’t get Game 3, then this is pretty much over,’ Garnett said. ‘I know that’s what I would be thinking so we’re going to have to be ready for that.’ The Celtics were one of the league’s best road teams in the regular season, but they don’t think that success carries much weight in the playoffs. ‘It’s great to know that you can win on the road, but Miami could care less about our regular season record on the road,’ Rivers said. ‘And we should care less about it. We have to come to play and earn it.’”

Michael Wallace, Miami Herald – “Including this series, Boston has won 13 of the past 14 against Miami. The Celtics beat the Heat by an average of nearly 20 points in Games 1 and 2, held a double-digit margin in rebounding, outscored Miami 44-20 on free throws and limited the Heat to 39 percent shooting. Meanwhile, the best — and perhaps only — thing Miami has going for it through two games is Wade. And Wade alone hasn’t been enough. Even as the Heat trailed by 30 in the fourth quarter Tuesday, Spoelstra left Wade in to send a message — not to Boston, but to his own team. DON’T QUIT. ‘I wasn’t going to throw in the towel,’ Spoelstra said, referring specifically to Game 2 and, perhaps, the series. ‘I understand what the score was. That’s not even a habit I want in our minds right now.’”

Rich Levine, CSNNE – “‘We gotta expect the worst from (in Miami),’ Allen said. ‘We can’t go into there thinking like Game 3 is Game 2.’ But as the Celtics prepare for tomorrow’s flight down to South Beach, there are a few things working in their favor. One is that they’ll be well-rested. The playoffs are void of the hectic scheduling and back-to-back games that dominate the regular season. And for a C’s squad that uses a nine-man rotation with five guys that are 32 or older, the extended time between games is an added bonus. If not a straight up advantage. ‘I love it,’ Doc Rivers said. ‘It’s great for us. Don’t forget that we’re so old. I don’t think it hurts us at all. Especially with the travel day, because this is a long (trip). This is not your typical hour and a half flight to play a game. It’s a three hour-plus flight. So this allows us to have this day of film and then a day off, kind of, and then a hard practice tomorrow and a long flight that gives you time to recover.’”

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun Sentinel – “The Celtics are not having trouble holding down the rest of the Heat. Astonishingly, beyond Wade’s .611 from the floor, no Heat player is shooting better than Mario Chalmers’ 41.7 percent. By contrast, five Celtics are shooting at least 50 percent. ‘Our focus is always going to be on Wade,’ Celtics forward Paul Pierce said. ‘But, at the same time, we can’t let the other guys have big games and that has to be our focus, too.’ Spoelstra said what is most important now is that his team pulls together. ‘What we can control right now is getting our minds right, and taking care of the most important game, Friday, Friday night,” he said. “So that will be our test, in terms of being able to bounce back by keeping our mental stability. And that’s usually been strength of ours all season.’”

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “Everybody shoots 3-pointers and many hit an occasional one, but that doesn’t make them a 3-point shooter. It’s when a player can drain 3-pointers in a hurry, with burly centers charging them like Michael Strahan closing on a quarterback, that strikes fear. That frightened look of an oppoenent when Allen gathered the ball and has a split-second to release. When Allen and his teammates are stretching the floor and making those open shots, the Celtics are an elite team. It is the reason Glen “Big Ticket Uno Stub’’ Davis (or whatever he is referring to himself in Kevin Garnett’s absence) had room in the paint to maneuver for layups. Allen’s presence and effectiveness changed the game and is a good sign for the Celtics in their quest to advance to the second round. ‘When Ray keeps answering with threes, that’s what he’s here for,’ center Kendrick Perkins said. ‘I know he didn’t have a big first half, but I knew he was going to have a big second half. I watched him after [Game 1]. He came in and got his shots up three times a day, so I knew he was going to have a big game in Game 2.’”

Dan Duggan, Boston Herald – “Rivers again credited Perkins with finding Michael Finley for an open 3-pointer early in the second quarter. Finley’s shot began a critical 21-0 Celtics run that was highlighted by sharp ball movement. ‘Doc kept saying we just had to keep making the extra pass,’ Perkins said. ‘Baby was open a lot on the duck-ins, so I kept hitting him. If he wasn’t open, then the guards from (3-point range) were open. The thing about the Heat is they’re a great help team, but I don’t think they make the second effort to help. They’re going to help on the first pass, but it’s the next pass that the guy is going to be open.’”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “Hearing Doc Rivers talk about Anderson Varejao and Joakim Noah, you’d think he has a little man crush. Then again, all coaches have great affection for large hustlers who enter a game and break some eggs without concerning themselves with points and other starry stats. It’s easy to get the impression that Rivers badly covets such a player. But does he already have one? ‘Sometimes,’ the Celtics coach said. ‘Baby when he does it can be that,’ Rivers said of Glen Davis. ‘But that’s tough. Either that’s in you or not, for the most part. When Baby does it, he has the same ability. He’s not as long as those two guys, but he’s bigger and stronger.’”

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun Sentinel – “Then there is his team being able to avail itself to three nights of South Beach, including just before Sunday’s 1 p.m. Game 4. ‘Miami always has an advantage,’ Rivers said at his team’s Waltham, Mass., practice facility. ‘New York has an advantage. L.A. has an advantage. That temptation is always there, so we’ll see.’ But, no, Rivers said there would be no curfew. ‘No, they’re grown men,’ Rivers said. ‘Hell, they have kids older than mine.’”

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

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.

Blowouts are fun. Especially when you ball your ass off. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Kirk Minihane, WEEI – “With apologies to Ray Allen (who put on a shooting display in the third quarter that rivals any I can remember from a Celtics player in the playoffs), it was Davis that earned First Star honors in the 106-77 humiliation of the Miami Heat in Game 2 on Tuesday night. Just how big (forgive the pun) a factor was he? Well, with 8:37 left in the third quarter he had 17 points, or as many as Dwyane Wade, Jermaine O’Neal and Quentin Richardson-Laimbeer combined. Big Baby threw a circa 2008 Garnett 23-8 line at the Heat, while shutting down Michael Beasley when it mattered (Beasley was 6-of-14 from the field, with most of his points coming during Geno Time.) And he brought his usual law firm of Energy, Energy and Energy to the court, simply out-hustling the front line of the Heat. OK, O’Neal blocked four of Davis’ shots in the first quarter (Davis was on pace for the rarest of triple-doubles at halftime — 28 points, 12 boards and having 10 of his shots rejected) but, like Duke once said about Rocky, the man just kept coming after him. So what? Is he going to pout? You think Davis isn’t used to having his shot sent back in his face? He doesn’t care. Just puts his head down and gets to the basket. ‘One man impacted the game with just his effort,’ said Heat coach Eric Spoelstra of Davis after the game. ‘I’d be shocked if they have one play for him in the playbook.’”

Rich Levine, CSNNE – “Glen Davis will say things that leave you scratching your head. He’ll act out in ways that are beyond comprehension. Sometimes you’ll ask him a question, and he’ll just stare at you — better yet, through you — leaving you to sit and wonder, ‘What in God’s name is going on in there?’ He’s a riddle, wrapped inside an enigma, contained within a McDonald’s 20-piece. He’s Manny Ramirez’s distant cousin. But for all that Davis does to arouse anger and confusion off the court — whether he’s tearing up on the sidelines, channeling Daniel LaRusso on the eve of the season opener, screaming profanities at opposing fans or changing nicknames more often than Diddy — there’s one thing about him that is, and always will be, crystal clear: The guy’s a gamer.”

Dan Shaughnessy, Boston Globe – “Is there really any need to play any more games in this series? Bring on the Cavaliers, people. It’s true. Boston’s boys of winter are peaking at the most important time of the year. The Causeway Street barn is our April Garden of Eden and the momentum won’t be stopped just because Garnett is suspended for a night. Nobody puts Baby in a corner. ‘I just knew that the Big Ticket was out and the Ticket Stub had to fly in today,’ said Davis. ‘Whenever they need the Ticket Stub, Glen Davis is here. Big Baby. I’m just worried about playing and getting wins. That’s all that matters to me.’”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “Reprising his role as Garnett’s understudy, Davis had 23 points and eight rebounds in the Celtics’ 106-77 Game 2 victory, doing all his damage mostly via energy.Before he took the court, Celtics captain Paul Pierce took a look at the lineup he’d have around him. ‘I said, ‘This is the same lineup we had going into the playoffs last year that pushed Orlando to seven games,’ ‘ Pierce said. ‘With Glen out there in the starting role, we all know what he’s capable of. He’s confident. He’s playing the type of basketball he knows we need him to play. Did I know he was going to have a big 23-point game with eight rebounds? Not at all. But I knew he was capable of filling in the role nicely and doing what the coaches asked him to do. With him out there, chemistry is fine. We felt like this was a game we were supposed to win with or without Kevin. So he did a great job with filling in.’”

Chris Sheridan, ESPN – “Up until recently, you’d be more likely to see the words pancake-eating contest or girth or heft lumped together in the same sentence with Davis, who is listed in the Celtics’ postseason guide as weighing 295 pounds — a six-pound increase over what he supposedly weighed in the preseason, but a whole lot less than what he weighed when he came out of LSU three years ago. But the quintessential moment when you bore witness to exactly what Rivers was speaking of, foot speed, came early in the third quarter, just before Miami coach Erik Spoelstra appeared to be setting some kind of a postseason record for timeouts taken purely out of frustration. After Kendrick Perkins blocked a drive by Carlos Arroyo, the fleet-footed fellow who used to resemble a lumbering lump of lard barreled the other way down the court as Boston got out on the break. Receiving a pass with a full head of steam, all defender Michael Beasley could do was foul Davis, who went to the line and knocked down one of his nine made free throws. One possession later, Davis danced deftly to his left rather than toward the basket when the Heat doubled Rajon Rondo on a pick-and-roll, then received Rondo’s pass and buried a 20-footer. Timeout, Spoelstra.”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “If the Celtics were trying to keep Kevin Garnett’s replacement a surprise before Game 2, they did a terrible job. Coach Doc Rivers confirmed in his pregame chat with the media that Glen Davis would draw the start, citing his quicker feet that could help combat Miami’s Dwyane Wade in the pick-and-roll. ‘I just think he moves his feet better [than Rasheed Wallace],’ said Rivers. ‘Wade alone was involved in 36 pick-and-rolls [in Game 1], so we think he’ll be involved in 36 more — at least — so we needed a quicker big. If Rasheed and [Kendrick Perkins] were involved in all those pick-and-rolls, that would be tough. You want one or the other on the floor.’”

Israel Gutierrez, Miami Herald – “No, no it’s not. It’s a way more unfortunate time than that. It’s reality-check time. It’s come-to-your-senses time. It’s closer-than-ever-to-free-agency time. The Miami Heat had every reason to convince itself it was ready for a Game 2 bounce-back. Every reason to believe that the fourth quarter in Game 1 was a mirage, nothing that ever would show up again in this series against a supposedly older, less-athletic, ready-for-bed Celtics team that already was playing without its suspended intimidator, Kevin Garnett. What the Heat proved in Tuesday’s embarrassment of a Game 2 loss — an all-timer when it comes to playoff losses — was that Game 1 might have been as close as this team is going to get to these Celtics.

John Schuhmann, NBA.com – “After Game 1, even tough they fell apart in the second half, there was a feeling among the Heat players and staff that they definitely had the ability to beat the Celtics. They had played Boston close in all three regular season games and were up 14 early in the third quarter on Saturday. They’re probably not feeling so confident after Game 2, as the Celtics turned in a postseason performance unseen around here since Game 6 of the 2008 Finals. Boston dominated both ends of the floor, Miami looked like a lottery team, and Kevin Garnett’s absence didn’t matter one bit. The second half of Game 1, when Miami scored just 15 points over the final 19 ½ minutes, clearly carried over in Game 2. The key stretch on Tuesday came in the second quarter, after the Heat took a 29-25 lead. Over the next eight minutes, the Celtics held the Heat scoreless on 13 straight possessions, resulting in a 21-0 run. There was a similar stretch in the third, and this one quickly became a blowout. When this season started, Doc Rivers challenged his team to one day be referred to as the best defensive team ever. And they’re finally looking something like it.”

Dave Hyde, Miami Sun Sentinel – “The Heat can tell themselves this series isn’t over. They can say it officially hasn’t started since neither team has lost at home. They can preach how with more film work and better shooting they’ll recapture their late-season momentum and find the formula to kick Boston out of this playoff series. But is anyone listening after Tuesday’s 106-77 loss in Game 2? Boston played without its best defensive force in Kevin Garnett, held the Heat to another 10-point quarter and reminded everyone about the essential problem in this one-man Heat team: the other four players. Man, they were awful. All of them. Whatever four were out there.”

Couper Moorhead, NBA.com – “Once one of the top rebounding teams in the league, the Celtics suffered the greatest fall in rebounding stats of any squad, dropping to 13th and 29th in offensive and defensive rebounding percentages, respectively. For whatever reason, the Celtics shook their standings in those categories — though this can rationally be explained by them finally having a cohesive effort in the area — and allowed a mere six offensive ballboards, two off Boston’s season low, with a total rebounding margin of 50-33. ‘It was our number one focus going into the game tonight, that we had to be dominant — not good — we had to have a dominant effort on the glass,’ Rivers said. It’s always premature to determine the fate of a series after two games, before one team has even had a chance to play at home. But Tuesday night, the Heat were so thoroughly beaten by the Celtics, so clearly exposed for being a one-man team, that’s its tough to give them much of a chance barring some incredible individual adjustments. That is, as long as Boston’s recent propensity for sustaining elite-level play holds strong. ‘We can’t focus on what the series is right now,’ Rivers said. ‘We haven’t been good at that. We have not been. It will be a good test for us.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “‘We’re trying our best to stop Wade, it just hasn’t been working out very well,’ said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. ‘But we absolutely have had a focus on everyone else. Our theory always is that the great players are going to be great. We try to make them shoot a poor percentage — we’ve been unsuccessful in that part, but we can’t let everybody else beat us as well. So we haven’t had an adjustment as far as our game plan, but we have focused on everyone else. We’ve had a lot of focus on Wade, too, but what we don’t want to do is be mesmerized by him and letting everybody else get off.’ You can’t argue with the results. Miami scored 47 points over the final three quarters of an 85-76 loss to Boston in Game 1, then totaled a mere 37 points midway through the third quarter of Game 2. Go ahead, dust off those comparisons to the 1985 Bears that were being tossed around like footballs at the beginning of the 2009-10 season. Heck, Boston’s defense wasn’t even this good at that point. ‘I think we were all on the same page [Tuesday],’ said Kendrick Perkins. ‘Guys were helping out and we did a great job on Dwyane Wade for a little bit. He still had [29] points, but we took care of the others.’”

Dan Duggan, Boston Herald – “Nineteen of Wade’s points came after the Celts were ahead by 32. After providing an outside complement to Glen Davis in the second period when the C’s were taking the upper hand, Allen scored 11 when the margin was going from 16 to fuggedaboudit in the third. That’s when Wade pulled up in transition and threw in a 3-pointer that was so meaningless it got no reaction from the Heat. Wade just seemed to sigh and go back to the end of the floor where Allen continued to put the hammer down with six more points. His makes were almost icing, because he was accomplishing so much just by leading Wade through a forest of picks. ‘Since Kevin wasn’t in there, they didn’t want to double on the post,’ Allen said. ‘D-Wade was chasing more than he had to chase in Game 1. There was one time where I had gone a couple of times back and forth. He chased me, but when he got back down on his offensive side he kind of caught his breath. He was sitting down there catching his breath. So whatever we do, just keep him moving so he doesn’t have as much energy on the offensive end. That’s what we’ve got to continue to do. Sometimes I’m just as tired,’ Allen added, ‘but the difference is I have other guys on the team that are going to take shots and make big plays for us. And he’s the guy that they really rely on 80-90 percent of the time.’”

Dan Duggan, Boston Herald – “‘It became about a lack of mental toughness again for us and we collapsed,’ Spoelstra said. ‘They just dominated us in every facet of the game. It was a very embarrassing game and now the next step for us is that mental toughness, that mental stability.’ Things fell apart for the Heat in the second quarter, when an 8:03 scoring drought turned a 29-25 lead into a 46-29 deficit. ‘They really got into a groove on the offensive end,’ Heat guard Dwyane Wade said. ‘Defensively, we (stunk). The crowd got into it and they kept rolling. You could feel it leaving and going fast. That’s not a good feeling.’ Though Spoelstra was upset with the loss, he was careful to keep things in perspective. The Heat are down, but the series heads to Miami for Game 3 Friday. ‘This was an embarrassing loss, but it is one loss,’ Spoelstra said. ‘It is not four losses and what we control right now is getting our minds right and taking care of the most important game on Friday night.’”

Peter May, ESPNBoston – “He then went shot-less in the first quarter of Game 2, content to observe the Celtics’ Smashmouth Game Plan being exercised to near perfection by Glen Davis and Kendrick Perkins. But Doc Rivers knew something had to change. “We had to get Ray some shots,” he told anyone who would listen. Allen’s thoughts at that point? ‘I’m 100 percent. I haven’t missed,’ he said. Classic Ray. Allen did get some shots in the second quarter, but the third quarter was the game-changing eruption. Celtics’ fans were treated to Vintage Allen, except that vintage in this case is the here and now for the still sweet-shooting 34-year-old. He took eight shots and made six of them. Six of the eight shots were 3-pointers and five of those found the mark. He had 17 in the quarter, 12 of them (four 3-pointers) coming in a span of 2 minutes, 49 seconds. By the time Allen was through, so were the Heat. The fifth Allen trey of the quarter pushed the lead to a stunning 33 points with 14 minutes left — and the Celtics had more than survived the absence of Kevin Garnett, not to mention the annoying ramblings of Quentin Richardson. They won easily, 106-77, and lead the series 2-0.”

Frank Dell’Apa, Boston Globe – “The mix-up resulted in a turnover, Pierce catching Allen’s pass, then looking down to see his heel over the sideline within a few feet of official Marc Davis. Pierce did not bother to wait for the whistle, simply flipping the ball to Davis and getting back on defense. ‘I did not want to shoot,’ Allen said of the sequence. ‘But I was trying to focus on making the extra pass. I know a lot of people want to see me shoot it but I like to see Paul shoot it, as well. Any time we can create a great rhythm, where we’re over-unselfish, it does bode well for us as a team.’ Pierce and nearly everyone in the Garden expected Allen to attempt the transition shot. In fact, Pierce talked afterward about ‘being a spectator, just watching Ray knock down shots,’ the classic ball-watching habit that is difficult to avoid when a teammate is shooting so well. ‘He was [expecting the shot],’ Allen said. ‘He was stepping out of bounds. We always say, sometimes with [Rajon] Rondo, you don’t know. Just be ready, he might look that way and throw it to you, so you kind of have to be ready. And, once I went up, I should have took the shot. But I knew Paul, once his guy came to me, he was open. Early in games, I’ve always thought that taking the easy shot, the uncontested shot, is the best shot. We have so much talent, so when we move that ball early, we always get open looks.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “Celtics guard Tony Allen didn’t produce the sort of offense he did in Game 1, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t enjoy Game 2 just as much. Allen might have been the most excited person in the building as Boston embarked on the 44-8 run. With every 3-pointer splashed by Ray Allen, Tony Allen popped to his feet and looked like he was going to come out of his skin. Numerous times he pumped up the crowd, imploring fans to get on their feet (not that they weren’t obliging already). While waiting to check in, Boston enjoyed a fastbreak and Tony Allen nearly wandered into the Miami bench (a dangerous zone, just ask Kevin Garnett) while following the play down the sideline. Tony Allen finished with 4 points on 2-of-5 shooting with 4 rebounds, 2 steals, and an assist over 17 minutes. He struggled to keep Dwyane Wade quiet at times, particularly late in the third quarter, but his energy seemed contagious for Boston. ‘We had a tough practice [Monday] and I think it carried over,’ said Tony Allen. ‘The guys was very talkative in practice and they were very talkative [Tuesday], too.’”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “Miami Heat forward Quentin Richardson has had time to reflect on his actions in Game One and the comments that followed, which included a reference to Garnett and Paul Pierce as ‘actresses.’ He didn’t bite his lip at the time, and the 6-foot-6 guard/forward wasn’t about to on the eve of Game Two. ‘I stand by what I said. That was game One,’ Richardson told Comcast SportsNet’s Carolyn Manno. ‘I’m going to leave everything in Game One.’”

Jessica Camerato, WEEI – “All of the missed baskets, missed rebounds, and overall missed opportunities piled up for Miami. ‘Mental breakdown,’ is how Beasley characterized the loss. ‘We let our missed shots and our missed rotations just take us out of the game mentally. We were almost fighting each other sometimes, and any time you get a team talking to each other like that and just out of it mentally, these type of games will happen.’ Even though not everyone on the Heat felt dissension on the court (“I don’t know if it was one another, I think we were just frustrated with the situation,” said Richardson), team leader Wade said the team must learn from any internal conflicts. ‘There’s always going to be disagreements when things aren’t going right,’ he said. ‘You can’t point too many fingers. You learn from it and you move on. In this league you can’t hold grudges because we all mess up. We all aren’t perfection. It’s just a time where frustration sets in. There is not going to be pats on the back when you’re losing by 30. Not at all. Guys are going to be willing to take criticism, that’s the only way you’re going to get better, if everyone’s willing to take criticism and understand their mistakes and try to move on and learn from it. Yeah, there were some things said to guys, but it’s been like that all year. We just bounce back from it. Normally you want to bounce back the next play and try to correct it, but in this case we have to bounce back the next game.’”

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “That old Celtics mystique isn’t back in full stride, but they are taking steps toward regaining that confidence. The metamorphosis probably has occurred quicker that many players believed. Remember, Derrick Rose and Kirk Hinrich sliced the Boston defense for 69 points just a week ago. The Wizards slapped the Celtics into delusion 12 days ago. The Celtics have withstood their share of embarrassing stretches, but the regular season is the distant past. Teams don’t enter the playoffs with seeds tattooed on their shoulders. The reset button has been pushed. ‘It’s more mental off the court,’ veteran Michael Finley said of the renewed focus. ‘It’s all or nothing. Everything goes up another level. The coaching. The players, they take the scouting report more seriously. This team has a lot of players who have been around the block for a long time and they know the importance of this time.’”

Dan Duggan, Boston Herald – “‘(Garnett) told me before the game to make sure that I do what I got to do and be physical, be ferocious and anything’s possible,’ Davis said. It wasn’t an accident that Davis used the words Garnett exclaimed after the C’s won the 2007-08 title. But before this team starts thinking such grand thoughts, Rivers was there to ground his troops. ‘We have to play hard, we have to have our focus and we have to understand all we’ve done is win two home games and they haven’t had the chance to play at home yet,’ Rivers said. ‘We just have to come out and focus on our job.’”

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

The C's didn't need Pierce to have a big game to steamroll the Heat.

With 10:10 remaining in the second quarter, Jermaine O’Neal dunked home a bucket to give the Miami Heat a 29-25 lead.  By the time Michael Beasley ended the ensuing drought with a jumper from the baseline, the economy had rebounded, Tiger Woods was settled down with his second wife, Erik Spoelstra had grandchildren, and my unborn son had graduated college.  When all was said and done, 8:04 had elapsed, the Celtics had scored 21 straight points, the four-point Celtics deficit had turned into a 46-29 lead and the Celtics’ 106-77 win was well in hand.  And the Celtics did it all with Kevin Garnett watching a television set in Danny Ainge’s living room.

As Ray Allen drained three-pointer after three-pointer and the game’s margin ballooned to as many as 33 points, the regular season’s pain was entirely alleviated.  Gone are the many months of shoddy effort and uninspired play.  Gone are head-scratching losses and all-too-close wins.  Gone are wide open layups for the opposition, and talk of the Celtics’ grave.

In one short week, the Celtics have gone from an old, washed-up team desperately in need of a life jacket to the playoffs’ most impressive squad.  Perhaps there was truth to the C’s claims that the regular season was nothing but an 82-game nuisance to be survived in as healthy a manner as possible.  All of a sudden, the Celtics possess the spunk and defensive tenacity that had evaded them for so long.

Ray Allen (25 points, 7-9 three-pointers) and the hot hand of Jesus put the game thoroughly out of hand, but it was the latest addition to the Celtics’ starting lineup, Glen Davis, who played a leading role.  Davis got off to an inauspicious start during which he made Jermaine O’Neal look like a young Bill Russell but, after O’Neal gobbled up Davis’s first four shots, Davis’s energy and nose for the bucket were contagious.  Davis finished with 23 points and eight rebounds, with his physical play and magnetic charge that constantly pulled him toward the basket leading to several layups and an 11-shot parade to the free throw line.

The Celtics played a beautiful symphony of all the right cords, but it was Rajon Rondo who led the orchestra.  Even while scoring only eight points and shooting just six times, Rondo pulled all the right strings in running his offense.  He finished with 12 assists compared to three turnovers, and directed the ball just where it needed to go.  When Ray was open, Rondo found him.  When Davis charged to an open spot in front of the basket, Rondo fed him.  As he has all season, Rondo made manning the point guard position look easy.  Even when almost entirely silent scoring-wise, Rondo has the ability to control an entire game.

As the Celtics clicked their heels and morphed into championship contenders in front of our very eyes, the Heat challenged to redefine offensive ineptitude.  For the second straight game, the Heat couldn’t even reach 80 points.  For the second straight game, the Heat had a 10-point quarter.  For the second straight game, they were held to less than 40% shooting.  Only a scoring explosion from Dwyane Wade (29 points), after the game was — for all intents and purposes — already over, kept Miami from a truly abysmal offensive output.

The series heads back to Miami for Game Three on Friday.  Kevin Garnett will be back and so, it seems, is Celtic Pride.

*****

Game Notes:

• Kendrick Perkins had 13 points and 9 rebounds, and a plus/minus to almost equal his jersey number: +41.
• Paul Pierce scored only 13 points, but still easily got the best of his matchup with Quentin Richardson.  Richardson had only 5 points, shot 2-7 from the floor, and had a -33 plus/minus.
• Michael Beasley, who was lauded before the game as a player who could potentially have a big game, scored only 13 points on 14 shots.
• Jermaine O’Neal shot 1-10, as he continues to challenge for the title, “World’s Greatest Bricklayer.”

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.

Suspended? Damn it.

Dan Duggan, Boston Herald - “If Garnett’s suspension provided one unintended positive, it was a vastly improved second unit in yesterday’s practice. ‘I knew the second-team defense was a mother today,’ Rivers said. ‘To the point I told (Garnett) to sit down in some parts of practice. I needed him to go away so we could get some offensive confidence. We were laughing how good the defense on the second unit was today until we realized Kevin was on the second unit. That’s how good he is.’”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “Losing Garnett, though, presents problems on both ends. In the 11 regular-season games Garnett missed, the Celtics allowed an average of 99.7 points. ‘The last time Kevin was out, scoring went up for the other team drastically,’ Rivers said. ‘We can’t have that happen. They’re too good of an offensive team, Miami. If you allow them to score points with the way they play defense, then we’re in trouble. We have to somehow be as good defensively for one game, just without Kevin.’ Much of what the Celtics do offensively goes through Garnett. Once he’s off the floor, the Heat don’t have to stress as much about monitoring him. ‘That’s my biggest concern,’ Rivers said. ‘It was not a high-scoring, offensive game to start with. You lose [Garnett’s] 15 points. But more importantly you lose all the picks, all the post-ups where they had to trap, all the attention that he got where they had to overload. That’s taken out and that’s big, so we’re going to have to try to find points somewhere.’”

Frank Dell’Apa, Boston Globe – “But the Heat plan to concentrate more on direct attacks to the basket, even when Garnett returns. ‘I think we need to be that way whether he’s playing or not,’ Richardson said. ‘They’ve still got some big guys: Rasheed [Wallace], [Kendrick] Perkins, and [Glen] Davis. Whether [Garnett’s] going to be there or not — obviously, he’s their difference-maker and things like that — we need to play the way we need to play [tonight], even after [tonight]. He’ll be back and we’ll need to be aggressive.’ Miami’s Dwyane Wade was not surprised by Garnett’s suspension. Asked if the Heat would have an easier time against the Celtics in Garnett’s absence, Wade said: ‘I’m not going to say easier. This is a good defensive team no matter who’s in the game. KG didn’t play all 48 minutes the other night, so with KG being out it brings a different game, a different style — it doesn’t make it easier. It’s unfortunate it happened. But we’re moving on with the game plan, the same way we do no matter who’s playing. It’s going to be a tough game for both teams. We understand this is a tough team. I know last year he didn’t play every game and we only beat them once. It’s not about one guy on this team — that’s why they’re a good team and they’ve won a championship. It’s because it’s more guys who always step up.’”

Paul Flannery, WEEI – “‘In the first game a lot of our open shots came off Kevin being involved in the play,’ Rivers said. ‘That’s my biggest concern. It’s not a high-scoring offensive game to start with, it loses us 18 points, but more importantly it loses all the picks, all the post-ups, all the attention that he got where they had to overload and we lose that. That’s big.’”

Dan Duggan, Boston Herald – “But there is the question of who will take the place of the suspended forward. The options are Rasheed Wallace and Glen Davis, though Celtics coach Doc Rivers wasn’t tipping his hand after yesterday’s practice. ‘They’re completely different players,’ Rivers said. ‘Sheed gives us more size, he gives us a better post player and he spreads the floor. Baby gives you energy, Baby moves his feet a little bit better on the (Michael) Beasley matchup. They’re just so completely different, that’s what makes the decision so difficult. It would be easy if they were similar. But they’re not, so it’s tougher.’”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “Rajon Rondo said, ‘I think Baby’s starting, but we’ve just got to get the job done. Baby’s ready to play, Rasheed’s ready to play, so is Shelden [Williams].’ Wallace had one of his best night’s this season, a 16-point nine-rebound fill-in job for Garnett who sat out the Celtics 112-106 win over the Heat Jan. 6 with a hyperextended right knee. ‘We’re all interchangeable,’ Davis said. ‘I’ve been lucky to have experience in the playoffs at a starting position. Sheed’s been blessed enough to be in this league successful at the power forward position. So any one of us can really start. It all depends on how the coach wants it.’”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “‘It don’t matter,’ Wallace said. ‘As long as I’m in there in that fourth quarter. I don’t care if I start. I don’t care if Doc brings me off the bench.’ Whoever gets the start will have their hands full with Beasley. While the second-year forward was a non-factor (six points, eight rebounds) in Boston’s 85-76 Game One win, the C’s anticipate Miami will try to get him more involved in Game Two. ‘I’m sure they’ll go to Michael Beasley more,’ Rivers said. ‘That’ll be an obvious adjustment without Kevin. You take Kevin off the floor, usually the guy he was guarding is the guy who gets the ball more. And Michael Beasley is a terrific offensive player.’”

Rich Levine, CSNNE – “The player who stands, at least on paper, to benefit most from Garnett’s suspension is second-year power forward Michael Beasley. As the team’s second leading scorer, Beasley is counted on as Wade’s right hand man. But he’s had a maddeningly inconsistent season; a trend that continued in Game One, where Beasley only scored six points in 32 minutes. ‘I’m gonna be more aggressive, point blank,’ Beasley said. ‘I thought that if I had been more aggressive, we’d have had a better chance of winning the game. I’m not gonna force anything, or try to overdo myself, but I’m gonna be a more aggressive and try to put some pressure on the rim.’ Even more so without Garnett chasing him around? ‘Honestly, I had my mind made up before KG was out,’ Beasley said. ‘With or without KG — Game Three, Game Four — I’m gonna be aggressive. My game’s not gonna change at all.’”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “Though he clearly seemed ready to react again in such circumstances, KG said the right things when asked what lesson he would take away from the incident. ‘To always keep a cool head and always understand that a cool head always prevails,’ he said. ‘Period, point-blank. You know, you try to pull something out of it and then apply it. I’m sure I will do just that.’ And he believes the Celts will succeed in his absence tonight. ‘I’m sure everybody has to look at themselves and say what they’re going to bring to this game,’ he said. ‘It was a lot of fire today, a lot of energy in the building. I guess everybody’s pretty much ready for Game 2. I have a lot of faith in how we prepare, how we practice. When you see our practices, you see how hard we go. Especially with the energy we had today, it gives me like a foresight or whatever to Game 2. I’m looking forward to see how we play.’”

Kelly Dwyer, Yahoo! Sports – “K.G. needs help, now. He’s still a borderline All-Star, per-minute. He’s still the biggest reason why Boston was ranked in the top three in defensive efficiency for most of the season. He can still hit the jumper, he can still crash the boards and he can still cover big stretches of the court in a way that would make a 23-year-old colt shake his head in wonder. But he’s nowhere near the K.G. we saw dominate this league in 2003-04 or dominate defensively in 2007-08. And he’s the first person to see this because he’s got a first-hand glance at just how far away that rim is compared to where it used to be when he tried to jump real high. Whether he wants to talk about it or not, yeah, K.G. knows. Cornered by his own increasing frailties, Garnett lashes out. He didn’t need to throw that elbow. He didn’t need to have Paul Pierce’s(notes) back. He doesn’t need any of this, but he presses on. And he loses more and more fans — hell, more and more admirers in the process.”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “Collectively these are the things that win basketball games. They also were the things that weren’t in evidence consistently this season when the Celtics repeatedly were hitting the snooze button on the green alarm clock. ‘Those are always big plays,’ Doc Rivers said. ‘It’s not just the scoring plays or the ones everyone can see. To me, all that comes down to effort and playing hard and having great focus. If you’re focused in a game, you’re always cutting and running hard. You see an open area, and you cut. That’s focus and effort. ‘We were on that every day during the season,’ added the Celtics coach, who left out the “to no avail” part. ‘Every day. We did that a lot in Game 1, and if we can continue to do that, we’re going to be tough. And if we don’t do that, we’re beatable.’”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “Miami point guard Carlos Arroyo said Allen is right near the top of concerns for the Heat in this playoff series. ‘He’s a big key to what they do,’ Arroyo said. ‘Him coming off screens, it’s very tough. He makes it difficult for any defense. He’s a player that you have to respect his shooting and his ability to put it on the floor and make things happen.’ Richardson agreed. ‘That’s somebody that you look up to in this league,’ Richardson said. ‘And see as an example of what you need to do to keep going strong. Because he’s definitely not slowed down running off all those screens and people trying to chase him, and still gets up and dunks the ball.’ And as far as the talk about Allen being too old, Richardson chuckled, ‘I don’t know if any of that applies to him, as far as the aging and stuff like that. He’s pretty ageless right now, to me.’”

Israel Gutierrez, Miami Herald – “Richardson, who turned 30 last week, isn’t sure if those experiences made him any tougher. Maybe more insightful. ‘It just puts everything in perspective,’ he said. You would think a player with this much grit, who’s held in such high esteem by teammates, was made for the playoffs. He might be, but in his 10 years in the league, this is just his second trip. His only previous one was a lengthy, 15-game postseason stay with the 2004-05 Phoenix Suns. Maybe that’s why Richardson didn’t take to Pierce’s dramatics or Kevin Garnett’s antics very well in Game 1. All that pent-up competitiveness had to be released. The truth is, Richardson has all the characteristics of a winning teammate. He won a starting job that wasn’t necessarily his to win. He helped make this Heat team one of the franchise’s best in terms of internal chemistry. He’s the team’s most consistent perimeter defender, and he happens to contribute actual numbers. ‘My whole thing is I know that I’m a winner,’ Richardson said. ‘And I know in the NBA it’s a league where there could only be one champion, but I never lost that about myself, that I’m a winner and I play with a winning attitude.’”

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

Wade doesnt want to play bully basketball with the Celtics.

After a Game One loss that looked for a long time like it would enter the win column, Dwyane Wade thinks his Miami Heat need to make some changes. (Sports Illustrated)

“It’s not a big adjustment,” he said. “Coming off the little scrum we had, the biggest adjustment is going to be, how can guys keep their focus on the task? When you talk about just playing basketball, we’ve been successful. But if you want to talk about bully basketball and rah-rah and that kind of thing, that’s more their game than ours. So we can’t get into their game if we want to win.”

Still Jermaine O’Neal expects the games to continue to have a fierce level of physicality. “I’m sure there’s going to be more pushing, more grabbing, more holding,” he told the Miami Herald. “I said it coming into the series. It would be a slugfest.”

Michael Beasley sides with Wade about keeping away from the extra-curricular activities, but for an entirely different reason. “I love my money too much, to be completely honest,” he told WEEI. “You do anything, it’s a fine, and I don’t want to give away any money.”

Besides his own pockets, there are other reasons Beasley doesn’t want the rest of the series to get too chippy. “That’s their M.O,” he said. “They’re loud, they talk through the whole game. We’re not going to get out of our game. We’re going to stay focused and let them do what they do.”

At the same time, Beasley doesn’t want his Heat to back down. (WEEI)

Speaking after the Celtics’ 85-76 win over Miami in Game 1 of the teams’ first round Eastern Conference playoff series, Heat forward Michael Beasley suggested that the Celts were going to try and use intimidation throughout the playoffs. “They’re physical, we got physical. We’re not going to back down,” Beasley said. “They’re a real physical team and I think they tried, and are going to try, to punk us throughout the series, and it’s not going to happen.”

Dwyane Wade thinks Quentin Richardson is a big reason why the Heat won’t get “punked.” “That’s Q,” Wade told the Miami Herald. “That’s what I know. I love him for it. At times he can drive me crazy with it. It is what it is, but that’s Q. That’s a toughness he brings.”

For the good guys, Kevin Garnett says emotional, physical play is what they do, and toughness needs to be a part of them.  Still, he said even before learning of his one-game suspension for Game Two, the Celtics have to be able to control themselves. (first WEEI link)

“I think we need to play with emotion, to be honest with you,” Garnett said. “I think emotion is a sense of passion. Playing at home, [we] definitely have to defend home court. I think that’s important. I think we need to come out and play with that same energy. We know our schemes, we know what we’re doing, and continue to be aggressive.”

He added, “I wouldn’t say [emotions are] good or bad; it’s when you let your emotions get the best of you. I can say that. Situations to where you have to sort of bite down a little bit and understand what the situation is, in that sense. But it’s an emotional game, it’s a very, very high intensity game. Everybody’s playing with those same emotions. Both sides are playing fiery basketball, and it’s aggressive. So at some point you have to be in control of yourself.”

I don’t want any more suspensions to be handed out (at least to Celtics), but I would love to see some more physical play tonight.  It represents the effort, devotion and passion that has so largely been absent for the Celtics all season long.  Miami coach Erik Spoelstra did a nice job of describing the effort factor of Game One when discussing what Game Two will boil down to.

“Again, it’ll be about effort, disposition and execution,” Spoelstra told the Miami Sun Sentinel. “All of those areas we got pretty much beat at.”