It took eight months of chasing, but the Miami Heat finally caught and surpassed the Boston Celtics last night with an emphatic statement and a 97-87 victory to close the series 4-1. The Celtics took the first three regular season games before losing five of their last six games against Miami.
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James, Wade, and Bosh combined for 83 points and 35 of the Heat's 45 rebounds to take a 3-1 series lead. Miami can eliminate the Celtics on Wednesday in game five. James paced Miami with 35 points with 14 rebounds, Wade added 28 points and nine rebounds.Bosh scored 20 points with 12 rebounds.
While tonight's game isn't technically a must win, the Celtics won't win the series without winning game three.
The Miami Heat put the Celtics in an unfamiliar place on Tuesday night, a 2-0 series deficit in the era of the current Big Three, after a decisive 102-91 victory in the Eastern Conference semifinal series. Miami broke an 80-80 tie in the fourth quarter with a 14-0 surge. The Heat led 47-42 at the half.
Bostonist has a confession. We wanted to see the Celtics play the Heat in the playoffs. It goes without saying that we hope/expect that the Celtics beat Miami, too. Rajon Rondo is quite possibly the key player in the series. As for Shaquille O'Neal, well, when Celtics president Danny Ainge says he can't go "12 minutes," how much can be expected?
Nathan Horton's second overtime goal in three games enabled the Boston Bruins to eliminate the Montreal Canadiens by a 4-3 score in game seven. Boston faces the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Rajon Rondo's #9 jersey ranks as the third-best selling National Basketball Association game shirt. Of course, Miami's LeBron James has the top spot wrapped up, and Kobe Bryant is second.
Timing is everything for the Bruins lately. They're riding a hot streak now by winning six of their last nine games, including a 3-2 decision last night against the New York Islanders. They broke the 100-point barrier for the 19th time and their 101 points are just two points shy of the conference's second playoff seed.
Bostonist is still thinking about Rajon Rondo's performance in Sunday's win over the Miami Heat. He was the most valuable player on the court. He did a bit of everything, even guarding LeBron James, who has seven inches and about 80 pounds on Rondo. Doc Rivers discussed how an unconventional plan like putting Rondo on LeBron was crucial to the win.
When the Celtics' "Big Three" came together for the first time (we were calling them Ghidorah then, as you may recall), they opened their 2007-08 championship season by blasting the Wizards by 20. Now, you can look at all the things that haven't gone right for Miami this offseason - they didn't have much of a preseason together; they didn't spend two weeks bonding in Rome; they're coached by Erik Spoelstra, who wears the haunted look of a man one losing streak away from being found in the trunk of a Town Car registered to Pat Riley five miles into the Everglades - but the fact is our guys started 1-0. And the vaunted Miami supergroup is 0-1. What does it mean? Probably nothing.
When last we saw Delonte West, he was being shipped to Seattle as part of the Ray Allen trade that launched the Celtics late-00's juggernaut. Since then he's been arrested, suspended, rumored to be romantically linked to LeBron James' mom, and indirectly blamed for LeBron leaving the Cavs, and thus the total annihilation of the Cleveland franchise, if not the city (Seattle also had its franchise destroyed, but that wasn't Delonte's fault). But on the court, we never stopped missing his scrappiness, willingness to get tough, and good court vision. And now he's back...well, he will be once he serves his 10-game suspension for weapons possession. And then he can give Rondo a rest once in a while.
You can come home again. The 2010 Red Sox have been on a road trip since Memorial Day, it seems, but they're off the West Coast. Finally. And they managed to survive - still in technical striking distance for a playoff spot with two months to go. They finished their trip with a sweep of the Regional Angels of Greater Southern California, with Josh Beckett picking up his first win since April and Marco Scutaro hitting his first Red Sox grand slam. Good times.
It's hard to really review a banjo act and a train wreck at the same time, but that isn't stopping everyone from trying.
Felix Doubront? Niuman Romero? Mitchell Friedman*?! These are now the 2010 Red Sox, and 25-year-old Niuman Romero became the latest man on the spot when Kevin Youkilis left last night's game early with ankle pain. (He's OK! Really! He says so.) That meant the rookie had to bat in Youk's cleanup spot for the rest of the game, which meant Tampa Bay could and would walk David Ortiz with abandon, challenging the kid to deliver the big hit.
All over the nation this morning, talk show hosts and columnists and fans will be wondering what happens next with LeBron James. Not us. Not here. That's the past. The Celtics are going to Orlando.
It's not like we really thought anything would come easy to this team, would it? Not after the Inconsistent November Bruins were replaced by the Damn Near Unwatchable February Bruins, who were then in turn replaced by the Sensational April Bruins. And so it shouldn't be a surprise that this second-round series has featured all three of those Bruins squads, and that's why we're headed for an improbable Game Seven tomorrow night.
Step aside, Boston Bruins. Your reign as winners of the "Most Half-Assed and Lethargic Performance In A Playoff Game" award didn't even last for 24 hours.
Because for about eight minutes last night, the Celtics played sloppy and graceless basketball. Then they looked up at the scoreboard and noticed Cleveland was playing right there in the muck with them. Then they turned it around, seized every opportunity, and hammered the Cavs 120-88. LeBron James? As much of a factor as Shelden Williams - the King was 3-for-14, listless, and didn't score a field goal until well into the second half. Cavaliers adjustments to James' poor play? Well...we're still waiting.
There was a sweep Friday night, just not the one Bostonist expected. Not only did the Bruins fail to eliminate the Flyers from the Stanley Cup playoffs, but the Celtics and Red Sox were obliterated by the Cavs and Yankees, respectively, to complete a sweep of Boston's teams.
So, LeBron James has a sore elbow? Three days off will fix anything. As Doc Rivers said "I think he's healthy." James was relentless in the first period with 21 points, a team record, as Cleveland built a 36-17 advantage. LeBron had 28 points at the half and the Celtics trailed 65-43. He finished with 38 points as Cleveland pounded the Celtics into their worst playoff loss ever, 124-95.
Sox, Bruins, Celtics starting over in May
April is over. The 11-12 Red Sox hope their crappy play is over, too. Fittingly the month ended with the Sox losing a winnable game to Baltimore, 5-4, in 10 innings. Miguel Tejada was 3-4 with a home run and three RBI. Tejada tied the game at 4-4 in the eighth inning with a homer, and plated the winning run with a single in the 10th.
John Lackey struggled early by giving up two first-inning runs. He completed seven innings, allowing three runs on six hits. He left with a lead before Daniel Bard, Ramon Ramirez, Hideki Okajima, and Manny Delcarmen blew it. J.D. Drew (2) and Dustin Pedroia combined to hit three home runs for the Sox.
OK. The five-year-old kid delivering Herb Brooks' speech at Fenway, and telling a national audience "screw [the Yankees]". Great moment, or greatest moment ever? Discuss.
Celts legend Larry Bird ate Lebron James' Big Mac in a McDonald's commercial, so PETA responded in the only sensible way: by saying that McDonald's kills chickens, and that Larry Bird should empathize with the birds (get it?). PETA even wrote a letter asking Bird to stop endorsing McDonald's:
Atlanta's coach Mike Woodson viewed this game as a measuring stick for his squad. The Hawks measured up well with the Celtics and won, 97-86. Atlanta led 72-70 after three quarters and outscored the veteran C's crew 25-16 in the fourth.
Former Celtics player Joe Johnson led the Hawks with 24 points. Jamal Crawford added 18 points. Paul Pierce led Boston with 24. Pierce went to the floor once, came up limping, went to see the trainer, and returned with a brace thing on his leg.
Boston dropped to 8-2 with their second home loss of the season. Comcast Sportsnet said the second home loss of 2008-09 took place on January 7. If you're wondering how the rag-tag Hawks won, check the box score and look for "Rebounds." Or, go with Kevin Garnett, who said Atlanta simply "beat us."
Manny vs. Pedro. Two guys we loved while they were here (well, maybe not the last month or two or eighteen of Manny, your mileage may vary), who helped us out a lot in 2004, and stuck around long enough to pose for some goofy pictures.
Big day for statements. Let's start with the worst and get better.
Complaining about the refereeing after a loss is a little ungentlemanly. Complaining about the refs after a win, however, is allowed and in fact encouraged after a game like last night, when the Celtics were legitimately going 5-on-8 down the stretch, but still managed to outdefend and outhustle Cleveland for a 105-94 win that helped throw the top of the Eastern Conference standings into a tizzy.
OK. It's oooookaaaaay. So maybe we thought that Doc Rivers' "stay the course" message meant something a little different. We all took it as sticking with a formula that has found success during much of this Celtics season-in-progress.
It's been a month and a half since any of our local teams even competed for, let alone won, a championship. And while the Revolution will soon have to get back to work to finally get over the hump and claim their first MLS Cup, they can at least bask in the glow of the SuperLiga title.
Most of the attention this year was on Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen got his share. But there was always a sense that Paul Pierce, lifetime Celtic and underrated fierce competitor, was just biding his time, waiting for one of his patented take-over-the-game fourth quarters, waiting for the time machine to 2002.
LeBron James may be on his way to joining the list of worst performances ever by a superstar vs. a Boston team. [Barstool Sports]
Tom Brady's panty model girlfriend is currently on the cover of Vogue with a sports star who isn't Mr. Brady. She's on the cover with basketball star LeBron James.