November 30, 2007
8:00 PM EST (Comcast SportsNet)
American Airlines Arena (Miami, FL)
Announcers: Mike An-Gorman-agement, Tommy "Want to Touch the" Heinsohn and Bob "Cheap" Cousy ; Gary PoonTanguay and Donny Darko (in-studio) ; Greg "Old Saint" Dickerson (sideline reporter)
Celtics Starting Lineup: Rayden, I've Got a Rajon Rondo, Perk'd Off, Kevvy G, Da Troof
Heat Starting Lineup: Dywyaynyey Wade, Chris Quinn Medicine Woman, Banana Shaquari, Cult of Udonis Haslem, Inspector Gadget's Niece
Well, the "Not Big Three" must be well-rested after enjoying so much time on the bench during yesterday's blowout victory against the pathetic New York Knickerbockers ... They'll need that energy, as the Heat (while holding the same 4-10 record as the Knicks) are going to be a much tougher opponent for the Celtics to contain.
Bob Cousy says that this team gave the Celts "all that they could handle" when they last met two weeks ago, and that they were "lucky" to get away with a victory ... How will things pan out tonight in Florida? Let's find out!
FIRST QUARTER
Shaq starts things off by hitting the baseline turnaround over Perk, but at the other end Pierce quickly answers with the three-pointer (3-2 11:25).
Hardaway then misses the outside shot, and KG grabs the rebound; he passes upcourt to Rondo, who finds Allen wide open behind the three-point line ... He buries the shot, but the refs waive off the basket as Perkins is called for the offensive foul for setting the screen on Wade (nuts); Miami regains possession, and Cook throws a bounce pass to Haslem for the open jumper (3-4 10:31).
Rondo tries to go tit-for-tat with the bounce pass to Perkins underneath the basket, but Udonis dives to the floor for the steal ... Nice hustle play (but no Tommy Point), as he gives the ball to Cook, who takes it back the other way and finds O'Neal underneath the basket for the layup (3-6 9:43).
The crowd likes what they're seeing, as Pierce misses the jumper over Penny and Shaq grabs the rebound. He gives the ball to Wade, who quickly pushes things upcourt before passing inside to Haslem ... His layup attempt is blocked by Perkins (nice), and he responds by fouling Kendrick while going for the loose ball.
Boston regains possession, as Shaq is called for the defensive three-second violation; that puts Allen at the line, where he makes the free throw to get the C's within a basket. It's still Celtics' ball, and Pierce buries another trey (7-6 8:47) ... Boston is just 2-for-3 from the field, both of them three-pointers by Paul.
Haslem answers with the bucket (Miami is shooting 4-for-6 from the floor), then Garnett misses the fallaway jumper over Penny, and Wade comes away with the rebound. He takes it upcourt and passes inside to Shaq, but he loses the ball and Rondo winds up with the steal. He takes it back the other way, and finds Ray who pulls up behind the three-point line and buries it (10-8 7:49).
Haslem and Pierce trade baskets, then Wade makes a nice spin move around Rondo (that gets the crowd's attention) and finishes with the basket that ties the score at 12 apiece with six minutes to go in the quarter. Penny then breaks up a pass by Allen (meant for Garnett under the basket), and Quinn collects the loose ball; he takes it upcourt to start the Heat fast break, and finds Shaq inside for the easy layup (12-14 5:49).
KG then misses the outside jumper, but Perk grabs the offensive board and finishes with a two-hand dunk to again tie the score. At the other end, Pierce plays some nice defense on Hardaway and forces him into the travelling violation; Boston regains possession, but KG misses another shot. This time, Pierce pulls down the offensive rebound, but Penny pokes the ball out of his hands and it goes right to Shaq (Boston's sixth turnover already).
Miami has another chance to retake the lead, as Wade drives along the baseline before kicking the ball out to Penny ... His three-point attempt misses, and Rondo comes up with the rebound. He takes it back the other way, where he passes to Allen; Wade has him covered, but Perkins sets the pick to free up Allen, so he pulls up and buries the 20-footer (16-14 4:30).
It's a tight one thus far, as Haslem rebounds the Shaq miss and scores on the putback to knot the game up at 16 apiece with four minutes to go. Pierce then makes a nice pass inside to Garnett, who goes in for the layup but is just swallowed up by Shaq (he probably felt like Jonah right before he spotted the whale coming); that draws the foul, so Kevin steps to the charity stripe and makes both free throws (18-16 3:47).
Parker Posey comes into the game for the C's at this point, as Ricky DAVE_US.222 and Jason "The Wigga" Willaims are in for the Heat ... Meanwhile, Wade barrels his way down the lane and knocks down Pierce, but the refs call the foul on Paul (bleh). That gives Dwyane two free-throw opportunities, but he can only make one of them (18-17 3:16).
Scotty 2 Hotty is the next to come into the game (KG takes a seat), as Posey tries the spin move around Haslem but The Tree of Zo (just into game for Shaq) blocks his layup attempt and Davis collects the loose ball. He tries to make the pass upcourt to Wade, but throws it too far and the ball goes out of bounds ... Boston regains possession, and Pierce takes it inside against Ricky where he scores on the layup PLUS draws the foul; Paul makes the free throw to complete the three-point play (21-17 2:49) and to put him in double digits (11 PTS).
Nice to see Pierce get off to the hot start (see, all that rest against New York is paying off!), but Haslem answers with the basket (he's got 10 points himself) ... Not so fast, as Pierce comes right back and buries yet another trey! Not only that, but Davis knocked down Posey (who was setting the screen to get Paul open) right as the shot went it, so that puts James at the line with 2:16 on the clock. He misses the free throw, but Rondo tips the loose rebound out back to Posey. He then passes to Allen open behind the three-point line, but his shot is wide of the mark (aw, that would've been a six-point play) and Wade grabs the board.
Dwyane takes it back the other way, and tries to get fancy with the no-look pass to Davis, but the ball sails out of bounds for Miami's fifth turnover of the quarter ... That gives the C's back possession with 1:52 remaining, as Hugh Laurie comes in to replace Rondo. Meanwhile, Allen slices down the lane but misses the layup (dangit) and Haslem collects the rebound. He passes upcourt to Wade, who dishes to Cook and he knocks down the oustide "jay" (24-21 1:26).
At the other end, Cook fouls Pierce to put him at the line at the 1:10 mark; he proceeds to make both free throws, giving him 16 points on the night (Paul is going for eighty tonight, I just know it!) ... During the stoppage of play, The Scals of Justice comes in to give Allen a rest, while Cook is about two feet behind the three-point line but launches the shot anyway and makes it (26-24 :50.9)!
Scals answers with a trey of his own (Boston is 5-for-6 from three-point land), then Wade again drives down the lane surrounded by three Celtics ... He pays for it, as he's knocked to the floor hard by Posey, but he gets back up and proceeds to make one-of-two foul shots (29-25 :16.4).
Pierce draws the foul on Alexander "The Great?" Johnson and makes both free throws with 2.6 seconds on the clock, giving Boston a 31-25 advantage at the end of one ... Neither team had trouble finding the bottom of the net in that quarter (MIA 11-18 FG, BOS 9-16 FG), but the C's can thank their captain for leading the way (18 PTS, 5-7 FG, 3-3 3PTers).
SECOND QUARTER
Gorman mentions that Glenn Rivers M.D. must not have been happy with the Heat shooting 61 percent in the first quarter ... I guess not, as Boston's defense forces Miami into missing their first seven shots of the quarter (!), while Posey scores two layups and House knocks down the three-pointer during a 9-1 Celtics run (40-26 8:36)!
Haslem hits a jumpshot at the 7:23 mark to break the Heat's scoring drought, but at the other end Ray makes the bounce pass inside to Garnett who knocks down the turnaround "jay" over Udonis (42-28 7:04); it's been a quiet night for KG thus far (4 PTS, 1-4 FG, 2 REB).
Still, things are going well for the rest of the team, as Allen makes the behind-the-back pass (whoa) to House who finds Kevin in the paint; he's double-teamed by Haslem and Shaq, so he gives the ball up to Perkins. He tries to dunk over O'Neal, but draws the foul instead (Shaq's second), so he steps to the line and makes both free throws (52-36 3:39).
J-Will then bricks a three-point attempt, and Perk snares the rebound; he passes to Allen, who dribbles upcourt and finds House behind the three-point line. His shot also misses, and Williams pulls down the board; he quickly pushes the ball back up the floor, then passes to Haslem, who tries to go in for the layup but Posey stands his ground and draws the offensive foul!
That makes it Celtics ball again, and Ray drives down the lane (drawing in the defense) before kicking it out to KG for the open 20-footer (54-36 2:42).
At the other end, Shaq is double-teamed underneath the basket, so he tries to pass out to Haslem but the ball goes up over Udonis' head and out of bounds; Boston regains possession, as Ray draws the foul on Cook to earn himself two more free throws (56-36 2:04).
Miami is crumbling right now, as J-Will misses another three-point shot (the Heat are 4-for-15 from the field in this quarter) and Posey acquires the carom. He passes upcourt to House, who feeds the ball inside to Garnett covered by Haslem; he tries the spin move around Udonis, but gets hacked across the arms, so it's another trip to the charity stripe where he makes one-of-two foul shots (57-36 1:34).
Wade also goes one-for-two from the line (Miami has made just four of its eight free-throw attempts, while Boston is 15-for-17!) to get his club back within twenty. At the other end, House makes the nice pass inside to Perkins, who finds KG underneath the basket, but he passes up the shot and gives the ball right back to Kendrick for the one-hand dunk ... Wait a sec, waive off the basket, as Garnett is called for the three-second violation (that's a case of being too unselfish right there). Miami regains possession, as House fouls Wade in the paint, so he goes back to the line and this time connects on both free throws (57-39 :45.7).
Both teams score in the closing moments, giving us a halftime score of 59 to 41, Celtics ... Boston has just dominated in a myriad of ways tonight, even without the services of their leading scorer Pierce (18 PTS, 5-7 FG, 3 REB), who played the entire first quarter but just two minutes in the second!
They've been able to contain Shaq (7 PTS, 3-4 FG) and Wade (7 PTS, 1-5 FG), and limit the Heat to just 25 percent shooting from three-point range (3-12 3PTers); incidentally, the Celts are 8-for-13 from long range, a good chunk of which comes from Eddie House off the bench (9 PTS, 3-5 3PTers).
If the C's can keep up those numbers through the second half, we'll be right as rain ...
THIRD QUARTER
A basket by Garnett opens the quarter, while at the other end Wade misses the jumpshot. He gets his own rebound, but fails to score on the putback ... Hold on, now Haslem has the offensive board, and tries to pass the ball back inside to Wade, but it goes off his hands and out of bounds!
Dwyane comes up holding his fingers (that can sting), as Boston regains possession, and Rondo finds KG for the outside jumper (63-41 10:59).
Quinn answers with a three-pointer, then Haslem plays some slack defense on Kevin (he just backed off him) so he buries another outside "jay" (65-44 10:15); Garnett's heating up now (15 PTS, 6-11 FG).
Things are still going swimmingly, as Shaq scores but Pierce comes right back with the three-point basket (68-46 9:15).
KG then strips Haslem of the ball; Rondo comes away with it and heads back the other way, where he finds Pierce about two feet behind the three-point line with Penny right on him, but he's still able to bury another trey (71-46 8:51); wow, Paul is now a perfect 5-for-5 from way downtown!
It's looking like the C's can do no wrong tonight ... Of course, Boston proceeds to kill my buzz by going ice cold, managing only one more field goal (jumpshot by KG) over the next five-plus minutes; yikes.
Luckily, the Heat can't really capitalize ... A perfect example is when Rondo throws a bad pass intended for Allen, that's picked off by Williams. However, he proceeds to dribble the ball off his own foot, and Rajon is able to recover and make a sweet dish inside to Perkins who scores on the hook shot over Haslem (76-51 3:01).
It continues, as Davis throws a pass over the head of Wade and out of bounds (Miami's 19th turnover), giving Boston back possession. The Heat then play some great defense, forcing Pierce into an off-balance three-pointer to beat the shot clock ... Still, they again can't capitalize, as none of the Miami big men can stop little ol' Rajon Rondo from grabbing the offensive rebound and (in one motion) finishing with the one-hand dunk (78-51 1:50)!
Jason and Kendrick trade baskets, then Rondo steals the ball from Williams (that's nine turnovers in the quarter for Miami) as we head back the other way ... He passes to Ray, who swings the ball around to Pierce. Paul then sees Rajon cutting to the basket, so he sends it inside to him, where Rondo goes for another dunk but Haslem gives the foul; that puts our point guard at the line, where he makes one-of-two foul shots (81-53 1:08).
J-Will hits two straight three-pointers in the closing moments, but the C's are still firmly in control (83-61) heading into the final stanza ...
FOURTH QUARTER
Jason opens the fourth with yet another trey (Miami is now 8-for-19 from three-point land) to get Boston's lead under twenty (hmm). House tries to answer but misses the three-point shot, and Shaq grabs the rebound; he passes upcourt to Williams, who finds Cook deep behind the three-point line and he buries it (83-67 11:15)!
The suddenly re-animated crowd is chanting "Defense!", as Doc quickly subs KG back into the game (replacing House) ... Meanwhile, Posey misses the jumpshot, but Garnett grabs the offensive board (making himself useful already) and kicks the ball out to Ray. He comes up short on the 15-footer, but now Pollard secures the offensive rebound and gets it right back to Allen.
Unfortunately, he misses yet again, and Wade comes away with the loose board. He takes it the length of the court, driving right into the chest of his former teammate Posey; he draws the foul while scoring the basket, as the crowd goes nuts, but can't complete the three-point play as he misses the free throw (83-69 10:21).
Still, the fans are now seriously back into the game, as Wade breaks up the pass by Pierce (Boston's 14th turnover) and Cook recovers the loose ball. He passes back to Dwyane, who quickly brings it upcourt and passes inside to Shaq ... Luckily, he loses control of the ball, and Rondo comes up with the steal.
Whoops, spoke too soon ... As Rajon tries to dribble back the other way, Wade sneaks in from behind and comes up with a steal of his own! He immediately takes it to the hoop, where he draws the foul on Pierce, so once again he finds himself at the line and makes one-of-two free throws (83-70 9:51).
At the other end, Pierce is fouled by Cook with 9:40 remaining in the game; he makes his first free throw, but misses the second and Posey fouls Shaq going for the rebound; Miami regains possession, but Wade misses the 20-footer and KG grabs the rebound.
He passes to Rajon, who brings it back the other way, where he finds Pierce underneath the basket. However, he's immediately double-teamed, as Wade is able to tip the ball away for yet another steal; he takes it upcourt for the 3-2 fast break, as he makes Rondo commit to him on defense before passing off to Williams.
It looks like it's going to be an easy layup, but Ray comes up from behind to bother the shot and actually forces him into the miss ... Unfortunately, Davis is all alone under the basket to tip it in (84-72 9:02).
Cousy chastises the Celtics players for not matching the Heat's defensive intensity (I dunno, I thought Allen showed some nice hustle there) ... It gets worse, as Ray airballs a three-point attempt (!) and Williams grabs the rebound. He finds Davis, who also misses a three-point shot, and Garnett comes away with the carom.
He hands the bal off to Rondo, who takes it back the other way, and finds Pierce who slices down the lane and tries to score over Shaq; his shot comes up short (Boston is now 0-for-7 from the floor in the quarter!) and J-Will grabs the board.
Miami calls a timeout, and when play resumes Ricky is covered nicely by Pierce (there's some nice defense, Cooz!), so he kicks the ball out to Williams. He drives to the basket for the layup attempt, but the ball rims out (whew!) and Posey takes down the 'bound. He gives the ball to Rondo, who takes it back up the floor before passing back to Posey; he misses the layup attempt, but Garnett is able to tip it in (86-72 6:23).
Jason scores, then Pierce comes up short on the layup attempt and Wade secures the rebound. He brings the ball upcourt himself, then passes to Williams, who finds Cook open in the corner but his three-point shot misses (Miami is shooting 4-for-11 in the quarter) and the ball bounces out of bounds.
Boston regains possession, but Pierce misses the pullup "jay" over Davis (he's now 7-for-17 from the floor); Wade grabs the rebound and goes coast to coast for the layup attempt. That comes up short, and KG takes down the board. That gives the Celts another opportunity, as Pierce tries to make the move around Cook, who's forced to grab him (his sixth foul).
Haslem comes in to replace him at the 4:54 mark (Doc also takes the opportunity to sub Perkins in for Posey) as it's still Celtics ball, and Paul slices down the lane but runs right into Udonis and is called for the offensive foul! Miami regains possession, as Haslem is left open at the free-throw line and buries the jumper (86-76 4:35); look out, he now has 16 points (8-13 FG).
Things aren't looking so hot now, as Pierce backrims a wide-open three-point shot, and J-Will takes down the rebound. He brings the ball upcourt, then finds Davis who drives down the lane to draw in the defense; it works, which leaves Jason all by his lonesome and he buries the trey (86-79 3:56)!
Boston needs a timeout, and when play resumes Ray Allen is able to block out the boisterous crowd as he banks in the jumper (88-79 3:32); the Celts are now 2-for-13 shooting in the quarter (ugh) ... Davis misses at the other end, as Rondo controls the rebound and walks it up the floor before passing to Posey. He swings the ball around to Allen, who tries to drive on Wade but has his pullup jumpshot partially blocked by Dwyane! Shaq grabs the loose ball and gives it to Wade, who takes it back the other way and passes to Davis; he finds Haslem alone in the corner for the 15-foot jumper (88-81 2:36).
It's still a seven-point lead with two minutes left in the game, when Wade tries to play some aggressive defense on Allen and ALMOST comes up with the steal (gasp!) ... but not before committing the foul (whew!). That sends Ray to the line, where he misses the first free throw (guh?!?) but makes the second (91-83 1:41).
The building continues to get louder and louder, as Wade is dribbling up the floor when Haslem comes over to set the pick on Ray ... However, Dwyane ends up getting "caught in the crossfire" and the ensuing collision causes him to lose control of the ball (yes!). Allen picks it up, but Wade actually grabs him around the ankles (that's a dangerous place to be grabbing him) to bring Ray to the floor and Udonis jumps on top of him.
Now, that looks to be an obvious foul - might as well have called it a shoestring tackle - but the refs confer and say it's a jump ball instead! That gets Heinsohn nearly apoplectic, as he screams "Violet 'You Aint No Flower Palmer' called it!!" (hey, he's ripping off my gimmick!).
Just an unbelievably bad call ... Nevertheless, Haslem and Allen jump it up, and Ray actually wins the tap (!) as the ball ends up going off J-Will out of bounds (sweet justice); Boston has possession with 1:29 showing on the clock, but Allen tries the fallaway jumper over Wade, and Dwyane is able to block the shot!
Haslem comes up with the loose ball and gives it to Wade, who quickly pushes things upcourt and ends up being covered by the bigger Garnett; he tries to make the bounce pass inside to Udonis, but the ball bounces off KG's leg and Posey dives to the floor to try and save it ... Haslem falls on top of him to try and recover the ball himself, but THIS time the refs call him for the foul (thank you); Miami is over the limit, so that puts James at the line where he makes both free throws (93-83 :51.4).
That gives us a little bit of breathing room now, as the Heat try to quickly answer, but Wade makes a bad pass intended for Shaq that Rondo is able to pick off ... He has a chance to take it all the way in for the layup attempt, but instead pulls it out to take some more time off the clock (smart) and gives the ball to Pierce. After letting a few more seconds tick away, Paul makes the bounce pass inside to KG, where he's fouled by Davis but still scores on the layup!
Kevin misses the free throw, but I hardly think it matters at this point (95-83 :22.5) ... Shaq scores in the closing moments, but it's a case of "too little too late", as the C's escape with the 95-85 victory.
FINAL SCORE: Boston 95, Miami 85
GAME RATING:
13
SLAM DUNK
BOSTON TOP PERFORMERS:
- Pierce: 36 MIN, 27 PTS (7-18 FG, 5-9 3PTers), 7 REB, 6 TO, 2 STL
- Garnett: 37 MIN, 23 PTS (10-20 FG), 9 REB
- R. Allen: 43 MIN, 17 PTS (3-17 FG, 10-11 FT), 4 REB, 4 AST, 4 STL
- Rondo: 34 MIN, 3 PTS (1-1 FG), 6 AST, 5 STL
- J. Williams: 34 MIN, 22 PTS (8-17 FG, 6-12 3PTers), 6 REB, 3 AST
- Haslem: 34 MIN, 18 PTS (9-14 FG), 10 REB
- O'Neal: 35 MIN, 13 PTS (6-7 FG), 11 REB
- Wade: 42 MIN, 10 PTS (2-11 FG), 5 REB, 3 STL, 6 TO
POST-GAME NOTES:
- Boston ended up shooting just 40 percent for the game (29-73 FG), while Miami upped their numbers to 46 percent (32-70 FG).
- After a one-game absence, the Tommy Award is back and James Posey is tonight's recipient.
- The Knicks actually came back to beat Milwaukee tonight (sports.yahoo.com), so Isiah 53:3 has probably gotten himself yet another (undeserved) reprieve from the unemployment line ...
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