Miami 93, Boston 79

[recap] [box score]

I don't want to spend too much time dissecting this one, because it really seemed like a night where almost nothing went right for the Celtics. If Boston is going to win this series, they need to play exceptionally well for at least four games, and they were far, far from that level in Game 1. If you thought Boston could win this series before Monday, I don't think there was anything in the game that should change that feeling. In other words, there wasn't anything that I thought the Celtics would be able to do that Miami took away. If we execute better, we have a shot.

With that said, I think there are two things that need to change:

1. Kevin Garnett was terrific once again, pacing the team with 22 points. Here's the deal, though: He has to be even better. He has to be even more aggressive. Sixteen shots aren't enough. It goes against his nature, the way he's played his entire career, not to mention the principles by which he (and the rest of the Celtics) believe the game of basketball should be played, but he's by far our most effective offensive option. If he shot the ball every time he caught it within, say, 15 feet of the hoop, it probably wouldn't be wrong. That's how big his advantage is, and that's how difficult it is going to continue to be for Ray Allen and Paul Pierce to score.

2. We need to do a much, much better on the defensive glass. I'm not talking about the latter half of the fourth quarter, when the Celtics had switched to a zone, but the rest of the game. Excluding that stretch, the Heat still had eight or nine offensive rebounds. That's too many in a series where points are at a premium. The solution to the problem is both simple, and complex. Doc Rivers noted after the game that the Heat beat the Celts to nearly every loose ball -- which he expected, because Miami is generally younger and more athletic. That's not going to change throughout the series. Quite simply, Boston needs to box out. That's the simple part. The complex part is -- Boston needs to box out. Somewhere between college and the NBA, basketball players stop boxing out, for the most part. I don't know why -- they just do. And I'm afraid that I see no other way to solve the rebounding problem.

Other than that, I think this really came done to execution. Doc is fond of saying that the NBA is a make or miss league, and I think we saw that tonight. I was pretty pleased with the shots Boston got, and for the most part, I thought we forced LeBron James and Dwyane Wade into some tough looks (which they happened to make). Pierce and Allen struggled, but given their injuries, that's expected now. The real difference seemed to be that the Heat hit their shots, while Boston didn't have anyone outside of Garnett who could consistently knock down a jumper. Boston went 11-for-21 from the line, too, and some makes there might have made a difference.

Quick note about the officiating: Horrendous in the first half. Eddie Malloy has a history of a quick trigger against the Celtics, and his tech on Doc was an absolute joke, while the one on Rondo was only marginally more warranted. Danny Crawford was too quick with the trigger with Ray Allen's technical as well (and he missed the call that caused Ray's brief reaction), and I can't believe that we had a delay of game tech, too. It didn't cost us the game -- the score was tied after the first half -- but it should be plain embarrassing for the NBA. Malloy, especially, has shown time and again that he's not cut out for big-game officiating. I said back on April 28, after a terribly officiated Miami-New York game, that Malloy should never ref again -- that's hyperbole, but he shouldn't be out there for any more playoff games, if you ask me.

No rest for the weary, as the series continues on Wednesday night. It's not quite must-win, but it'd be nice to have. I think we can get it -- we just need to execute.