In the absence of Paul Pierce, who is out until at least the weekend with the strained foot he suffered on Monday against the Wizards, many Celtics stepped up. Rajon Rondo was masterful all night, finishing with 22 points, 14 assists, and six rebounds. Kevin Garnett had one of his best games of the year, with 14 points, six boards, and nine assists of his own. Ray Allen had one of his best shooting nights in a while, hitting 7 of 15 from the field on the way to a team-high 23 points. Tony Allen struggled replacing Pierce in the starting lineup, but was vital down the stretch, forcing Dwyane Wade into a very difficult jumper with just over a minute to go and then picking Wade on the next Heat possession, nailing two free throws on the other end to give Boston a five point lead with 36 seconds left. (Give Doc Rivers credit for making offense-defense substitutions down the stretch to keep Allen on Wade.) Eddie House chipped in 16 big points off the bench, and Rasheed Wallace (7 points) and Glen Davis (6 points) came up with big contributions for the second unit.
Most notably, Boston pulled away in the fourth quarter, taking control of a tie game and outscoring Miami 33-28 in the decisive period. I'm not at all saying that the team is better without Pierce on the floor, but his absence forced them to actually run offense down the stretch, and they were undoubtedly better off for it. Hopefully, this serves as a nice lesson for crunch-time offense when Pierce does come back.
Boston's next game is Friday, against New Jersey. Pierce may be back for the game on Super Bowl Sunday against Orlando (2:30 p.m. Eastern on ABC), though if they decide to sit him until after the All-Star break, I won't be upset. The Celtics beat the Magic on Christmas without Pierce, and moreover, while a game like this is important, it's not as important as making sure the captain is healthy for the second half of the season.
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