Celtics at Heat
THE STORY: The Celtics and Heat are tied for second in the Eastern Conference going into their game in Miami. The winner will have a one-game lead with two games to play. A victory will nearly lock up the No. 2 seed for the Celtics, who are 3-0 against the Heat and would win the head-to-head tiebreaker. Miami will likely have to win its last three games to finish second. The Heat finish the season with games at Atlanta and Toronto. Boston visits Washington and is at home against New York. Since both teams should win their first-round matchups easily, this game will be all about who has homecourt advantage for their battle in the second round. Or to be more specific, it could come down to who will be playing at home in Game 7 if the series goes that long.
TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC
ABOUT THE HEAT (55-24): Other than inexplicable losses to Cleveland and Milwaukee, Miami has been on a roll the last two weeks. The Heat have won four of five and nine of 11. The last four wins have been by an average of 14.5 points. Dwyane Wade returned from a thigh injury to score 27 points in Friday's 112-103 victory over Charlotte. Wade, showing no effects of the injury, was aggressive going to the basket and went to the line 13 times Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh combined for 77 points. Miami coach Erik Spoelstra tweaked his lineup by starting Zydrunas Ilgauskas at center for the first time since February and benching Erick Dampier. Ilgauskas scored 10 points in almost 18 minutes.
ABOUT THE CELTICS (55-24): Boston has been struggling to find consistency, which isn't the best news for coach Doc Rivers with the playoffs around the corner. The Celtics have played .500 ball in their last 18 games. That stretch includes an impressive win at San Antonio, in which the Celtics took over down the stretch against the best team in the league. It also includes home losses to Charlotte and the Los Angeles Clippers and a blowout road loss against Houston. After getting pushed around in a 97-81 defeat at Chicago on Thursday, the Celtics bounced back for a 104-88 win over Washington on Friday.
WHO'S HOT/WHO’S NOT: Celtics guard Rajon Rondo had 20 points and 14 assists against the Wizards. He played 42 minutes because Delonte West, his backup, was ejected in the second quarter. James is averaging 29.6 points in his last eight games.
KEY STATISTIC: Sharing the basketball is important for any team, but particularly for Miami. The Heat are 14-0 when they have 25 or more assists.
SEASON SERIES: Spoelstra says the Heat are a different team from the three previous times they played the Celtics. He better hope so. While all three of Boston's wins have been by eight points or less, the Celtics have made the key plays. Rondo has scored 7.6 points, but has averaged 14.3 assists in the three games. Pierce averaged 22 points in the first two games, but scored only one point and was 0-for-10 from the field on Feb. 13. James is averaging 29.3 points, but the Celtics have held Wade to a 12.3 average.
KEY INJURIES: MIAMI: F Udonis Haslem (foot). BOSTON: C Shaquille O'Neal (calf); F Jermaine O'Neal (knee); G Von Wafer (calf).
LAST WORD: It sounds like both teams will have their game faces on for this one. "I know we’ll be ready," Pierce said. "I just know we’ll be ready. A lot more than we were ready against Chicago." Asked James, "Why not go get it?"