Boston 115, Miami 107

[recap] [box score]

This win's even better than the one back in Boston ten days ago. Any good team, like the Heat, can have an off night on the road, especially at the end of a long trip away from home. Any good team, like the Celtics, can put together a dominant performance in its own barn and wax a good opponent. Beating that same opponent on their floor in a payback game less than two weeks later, however, is not something every team can do.

I hope you watched this one, because it was an entertaining basketball game, but if you didn't, here's how it went: Miami predictably jumped out to a hot start, but Boston kept it close; Boston went on a big run to end the first quarter and led by double digits for most of the rest of the half; Miami kept chipping away in the third quarter to stay within striking distance; Boston lost their composure on a couple of early possessions and the Heat cut the lead to one point; Doc Rivers brought Rajon R-ndo and Kevin Garnett back a bit earlier than usual and, with the building going crazy and the game seemingly slipping from their grasp, they (along with Paul Pierce) calmly put the game away.

Those are the broad strokes, but there are some interesting details, and the most interesting is Boston's shooting a percentage: a torrid 60.6% for the game. Some will no doubt point out that the fact that the Celtics shot better than 60%, made 9 of 14 three-pointers and 20 of 25 free throws, and still only won by eight, is worrisome. There's some truth to that; Boston had to make a ton of plays to win this game, and they played exceptionally well -- a few more empty possessions at the wrong time could have brought a different result. But there are a couple counter-points to that.

First, while it's true that by the end of the game, Garnett and Pierce had to make some really tough shots, the whole game wasn't like that. Boston got pretty much anything it wanted in the first half, in which they scored 65 points, the most by a Heat opponent this season.

Second, the Heat had to make a bunch of tough shots, too, just to stay in it. And yeah, maybe Miami is more capable of making tough shots on a consistent basis because they have superior one-on-one players who don't rely as much on the jumper as the Cs do, but Boston has always been comfortable with letting individuals do their own thing against them. James had his usual game against Boston: huge numbers (36 points, even boards, seven assists) and a loss. Dwyane Wade was assertive in stretches (the second and fourth quarters), but when they play Boston, the two Heat superstars still take turns more than they seem to play together. Chris Bosh was once again a non-factor for much of the game, and once you get past him, you simply have to hope that the rest of Miami's unspectacular supporting cast doesn't have a big night. Those are chances I'm willing to take.

The big downside to this win was the minutes: 40-plus for R-ndo and Pierce; 39 for Brandon Bass; 33 for Garnett. (It's hard not to contrast Doc Rivers with San Antonio's Gregg Popovich, who left Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili at home on Monday night for a road game in Utah, even though the Spurs were tied atop the Western Conference at the time and fighting with Oklahoma City for home-court advantage.) The big concern with the minutes is the schedule; Boston heads back home on Wednesday to play the Hawks, then get one day off before a back-to-back-to-back in Toronto, New Jersey, and Charlotte. That many minutes, and that short of a rotation (Doc only played eight guys) could really come back to hurt the team.

Only eight guys played, but all played well. Garnett was the star, shooting 11-for-14 and finishing with 24 points and nine rebounds, but Pierce led the team in scoring with 27 points. R-ndo had 18 points and 15 assists (the 18th straight game he's had double-digit dimes), and Bass also notched a double-double with 12 points and ten boards. Avery Bradley had five early points, keeping the Heat from getting going, and finished with 11. Off the bench, Greg Stiemsma (eight points, seven boards) and Sasha Pavlovic (2-for-2 from deep) did most of their damage in the first half. Ironically, Ray Allen, who was 3-for-7 on the night, was the only Celtic who didn't make at least half his shots from the field.

Speaking of Ray, he came off the bench for the fourth straight game. I've gotta post about this...