Whatever happens in the regular season, stays in the regular season. That must have been the Heat's mentality in their game one victory.
The Miami Heat are up one game in the best-of-seven series after defeating the Boston Celtics, 93-79 in the first game. With Dwayne Wade and Lebron James scoring at will, the Heat built big leads, outplaying the Celtics, who never had a lead in the game.
The Celtics did not have an answer for the Wade's 22 and James 32 points. They once again combined for more than half of the Heat's points and shot 21/35, or 60% from the floor. The Heat, on any given night, will take 60% from these guys.
Even worse for the Celtics, they could not hit shots all night, shooting less than 40% from the floor. Paul Pierce had a bad game, only connecting 5 out of 18 shots and scoring 12 points. Boston will not have success against the Heat if Pierce continues having nights like these.
The one player they have been able to count on in every game, Kevin Garnett. He led the team with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Garnett's length presents a problem for the Heat, but they played great defense on everybody else.
Rajon Rondo only had 7 assists, which is a good sign for the Heat. He was the Celtic's second leading scorer last night with 16 points. Ray Allen continues to struggle from the floor, only contributing six points. Brandon Bass, who has not played well since his 27-point breakout in Game 5 against the Philadelphia 76ers, only had eight points. Allen and Bass combined for a measily 5-18 from the floor.
The Celtics could not buy a shot and the Heat were not allowing shots to get to the rim. The Heat were swatting balls left and right, ending the night with 11 blocked shots. James had three blocks and Shane Battier, who scored 10 points, had two.
Throughout the night, Lebron and Wade were filling up the stat sheets and highlight reels, which is something the Celtics can not allow the Heat to do, especially at home. The most memorable bucket had to be the 90-foot pass from Wade to Lebron. With the score 57-52, James' bucket gave the Heat a bigger cushion and ignited the crowd.
The Celtics were never able to recover and the Heat went on to build a double-digit lead by the end of the quarter. The Heat ran with the ball and eventually ran with the lead.
Game 2 is tomorrow night in Miami. Boston has to get over their shooting woes if they want this series to last more than four games. If the Heat continue playing their style of basketball, the Celtics' old legs will not be able to keep up.
