Heat at Celtics
THE STORY: This was the Eastern Conference series everyone wanted to see all season. So far, it has not been very exciting. The Miami Heat have figured out how to let their talent shine through en route to easily dispatched the Boston Celtics in the first two games. The veteran Celtics have a few days to regroup but are now facing a must-win Game 3. If you're looking for positives, well, at least they have home-court advantage for the contest. Boston will welcome Miami to TD Garden for Game 3 on Saturday night.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, ABC
ABOUT THE CELTICS: Boston has shot under 43 percent in the series and has not received anywhere near the production from its stars that the Heat have garnered from their trio of All-Stars. After leading the team with 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting in Game 1, Ray Allen slipped to seven points on 2-of-7 shooting in Game 2. Allen also sat out for long stretches of the second half after colliding with LeBron James and suffering a bruised chest. Rajon Rondo stepped up his production, finishing with 20 points and 12 assists on Tuesday, but scored seven of his points in the final three minutes after the Celtics were essentially done. Boston had tied the game, 80-80, with less than seven minutes left but went nearly four minutes without scoring a point as Miami sprinted away.
ABOUT THE HEAT: Miami had to answer questions all season about its apparent inability to close out tight games against good teams. Instead of waiting for the final minutes in Game 2, the Heat went ahead and took care of things a little earlier. A 14-0 run in the back half of the fourth quarter included seven points from James and left little suspense over the final seconds. James scored 24 of his game-high 35 points in the second half while Dwyane Wade added 28 and Chris Bosh chipped in 17 and 11 rebounds. James and Wade are a combined 12-0 in their careers when their respective teams have taken a 2-0 lead in a playoff series.
WHO’S HOT/WHO’S NOT: Kevin Garnett has struggled thus far, totaling 22 points on 11-of-29 shooting for the Celtics. Wade has been the most consistent scorer for the Heat through the first two games, averaging 33 points.
KEY STATISTIC: Free throws. The Heat have enjoyed home-court advantage to the tune of a 68-40 discrepancy in free throws attempted. A predictable shift when the series heads to Boston could even things out for the Celtics.
LAST WORD: “Now the mental discipline begins,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “This thing is just getting started.”