Heat-Celtics, Game 5: A Standing 8 Count For Miami

As I got out of the shower this morning, I was somewhat caught off guard by the 1st thing out of my wife’s mouth. “I’m still mad that the Heat lost last night,” she said. Half-awake as I was, the only thing I could think to mumble back was, “Yea, I know…Boston was just better.” It’s said that there is a lot of truth said in jest, and alcohol is sometimes referred to as “truth serum” as well, but maybe there’s something to a groggy sleep-deprived state removing the filter on your brain/mouth too.

"Wut...?"

8 days ago, I (and just about everyone else who was paying attention) had left the Celtics for dead. They were down 0-2 to Miami, and their own big 3 looked old, tired, and slow. Not even a herculean effort by Rajon Rondo in game 2 could rescue the C’s. After reeling off 3 straight W’s though, the Celtics look to be in complete control of the series, and Miami (who earlier looked as if they might wrap up this series in a tidy 5 or 6 games) looks like it has no answers.

It’s not really a secret that I have been pulling for the Heat in this series and throughout this postseason. Somewhere along the way, I grew tired of all the hate directed at Miami. Much of the criticism that has followed them the past 2 seasons is a result of their own doing, but they are so overly scrutinized that I have found myself rooting for them to shut everybody up. I also would like to see them advance simply because I would like to continue watching LeBron James (as he would say) “play the game of basketball.” Pick him apart if you want to, but I can’t think of anyone else who can do as many things on the court as LeBron can. Add to that the fact that I have grown tired of the Celtics’ act – KG’s demeanor, Rondo’s antics, and their holier-than-though view of themselves as some kind of greater good fighting against the big, bad anti-Christ of basketball that is the Heat – and I can’t deny that I would like to see Boston go down, and go down hard.

But at this point, that doesn’t seem likely. Watching these games play out, it doesn’t appear that Boston has figured out any magic formula for beating the Heat either. Just as I said to Krissy in my not quite fully functional state this morning, the Celtics just seem to be the better team at the moment. This seems impossible given that Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett all have looked like statues for large portions of this season, that Boston’s top 3 players off the bench this series have been Mickael Pietrus, Greg Stiemsma, and Keyon Dooling, and that the 8th seeded Sixers pushed the Celtics to a game 7 the series before.

Part of the problem for Miami is that their supporting cast is nothing to write home about either though. Wade and LeBron pushed through a subpar shooting night (a combined 21 for 47 from the floor) to score 57 points…the 7 other Miami players that saw court action shot a combined 11 for 35 (31%). The “others” for the Heat were even worse on 3-point attempts (4 for 17), many of which were wide open. A telling stat for Miami this series: James is only averaging 4 assists per game. That partially has to do with Boston’s ability to rotate defensively and close off passing lanes, but it also speaks to a lack of shot making. Also, Jeff Van Gundy and Mike Breen have been marveling at LeBron James’ ability to play and defend all 5 positions during this series. The fact that he has to do that should say something about Miami’s roster overall though.

However, on a night when Rondo, Allen, and Pierce couldn’t throw the ball in the ocean for much of the game (a combined 11 for 43…Pierce did however step up when it mattered and hit the shot of the game), the Celtics were still able to keep the game close before winning it at the end. Brandon Bass and Pietrus notched 10 and 13 points, respectively, and KG shrugged off a slow start to finish with 26 points on 11 for 20 shooting.

The "truth" is that the Celts still have Miami's number.

Despite how old the Celtics have looked at times, how thin their bench is, and what their regular season record was, they are still Miami’s nightmare matchup though. I doubt the Heat would have had significant problems dispatching anyone else in the East (including a full Chicago Bulls squad). For example, that same Philly team that gave Boston a scare a round earlier matches up terribly with Miami, but the Celtics have 2 players (Rondo and KG) that the Heat simply don’t have an answer for. If Miami switches Wade or LeBron onto 1 (or both) of them, that’s when Pierce and Allen go to work. With Chalmers and Haslem guarding those 2, Boston worked KG and Rondo in pick-and-rolls on what seemed like 10 straight possessions in the 4th quarter last night, and it was virtually unstoppable.

You could argue that Chris Bosh’s absence would have hurt Miami against any other team, but against Boston I’m not so sure. Yes, he’s a big body that needs to actually be guarded (unlike Joel Anthony and Ronny Turiaf), but his game is too finesse to give KG problems, and he just always seems a step slow in playing the pick-and-roll or in defensive rotations. His mistakes on that end of the floor aren’t egregious, but they are just enough for a well oiled Celtics team to pick apart. (I don’t want to put too much stock in Bosh’s performance last night, as he played spot duty in his 1st game back from an abdominal strain, but he had a game worst +/- of -12.)

All this may add up to disaster for Miami. The Celtics smell blood, and Boston’s home crowd will be as amped-up as humanly possible for game 6 on Thursday. For Miami to force a game 7, it’s probably going to take another superman effort from James like he had in game 4 against Indy (44 points, 18 boards, and 9 dimes), 2 good halves from Dwyane Wade, and some timely 3’s from the likes of Battier, Chalmers, and Miller. Otherwise, say goodnight, South Beach…the Celtics will be going to the Finals.