Celtics Mastery of Miami Continues
Monday, February 14, 2011
Admit it. Whether you’re a Celtics’ fan, a Heat fan or a fan of neither team, you’re wondering if the Miami Heat will ever figure out a way to beat the Boston Celtics.
Sunday presented the perfect opportunity for Miami to avenge two earlier losses to the Celtics. The banged up Celtics were without many of their key reserves. Paul Pierce had one of the worst offensive performances of his career going (0-10) from the field and finishing with just 1 point. And yet, Miami still couldn’t come out of Boston with the win.
Boston won it 85-82. Kevin Garnett (19 pts, 7 reb) was one of 6 Celtics in double figures. Glen Davis had 16, Kendrick Perkins 15, Ray Allen 13 and Von Wafer 10. Rajon Rondo finished with a triple-double with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
Miami’s “Big Three” did most of the scoring for the Heat. Chris Bosh led the way with 24 points and 10 rebounds. LeBron James finished with 22 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists while Dwayne Wade scored 16 in a losing effort.
With the victory, the Celtics improved to (3-0) against the “anointed ones” this season. And while that makes for great talk show fodder and columns on websites like this or in your local newspapers, those victories are somewhat meaningless.
For it does not matter what happens during the regular season between these two teams. What matters is what happens if and when these two teams meet in the postseason.
Fans of the Magic, Hawks or Bulls might argue, but the rest of the basketball world would like nothing more than to see a Boston-Miami Eastern Conference Final. That is when we will find out if this new “Big Three” is ready to take the torch from Boston’s aging “Big Three.”
These two teams will meet one final time before the playoffs begin on Sunday, April 10th in Miami. And while that one will be played just one week before the playoffs begin, who wins that game will also be insignificant.
Repeat after me: it’s all about the playoffs.
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