Heat-Celtics, Game 6: Living To Fight Another Day

Working on a 5 game win streak on ESPN’s “Streak For The Cash,” I picked Boston to beat my Miami last night and close out the Heat in 6 games. It was partially a way to emotionally hedge my bet seeing as how I would much rather see the Heat advance, but it was also an examination of the facts for me. The Celtics had really been the better team for the previous 4 games of this series, and the Heat have a history of playing just good enough to lose in these kinds of situations over the past 2 seasons. Unfortunately for my streak and the Celtics, LeBron James happened.

If only this was a TNT game, then we could have had Marv Albert’s signature call: “James working on Pierce. James…YES! LeBron James again!” Instead we were stuck with the weak sauce of play-by-play guys that is Mike Breen. (Albert and Jeff Van Gundy would be an announcing match made in heaven.) James netted 45 for the night on 19 for 26 shooting in 45 minutes (he pulled down 15 boards to boot). He had 30 by halftime, going 12 for 14 from the floor before recess. If the outcome of the game was still in doubt late, LeBron looked like he would have gone the full 48 in this 1 too. That Miami’s lead had grown to around 20 allowed James to pull his foot off the gas in the 4th…otherwise, it looked like he could easily have gone for 50-plus.

It wasn’t just the numbers though…it was the way James got them. Yes, he scored in a variety of ways, but he was decisive and efficient. It was, as Bill Simmons terms it, the “virtuoso” performance that I called for in my post following game 5. It was clear from the outset that James wasn’t going to wait for Wade and others to get themselves going early on. Wade had his customary slow start, going 1 for 5 from the field in the 1st half, but it didn’t matter much. What was particularly encouraging about James’ game was that there was no ball-stopping or wasted motion. Most of his scores were on isolation plays, but James didn’t jab-step or make ball fakes for 8 seconds before deciding what to do. Instead, it was catch the ball, and go to work.

There didn’t seem to be any stopping James and the Heat on this night, but there were a couple other factors that turned this from a Miami win to a Boston shellacking. Miami’s role players actually managed to hit some timely 3’s (Battier and Chalmers combined to shoot 5 for 8 from distance), and for the 1st time since game 1 of this series the Celtics looked old and tired…but it’s easy to look that way when the ball isn’t going in the basket. Paul Pierce suffered through a miserable night, going 4 for 18 while picking up 3 early 1st half fouls trying to deal with James. Rajon Rondo had another 20-10 game, but uncharacteristically coughed the ball up 7 times too. And KG only managed 5 rebounds in 30-plus minutes.

All that being said, and this was only game 6. James exorcised some demons for 1 night, and Miami retook control of the series, but none of that means anything if Boston goes into Miami and steals game 7. Fair or not, last night only affords LeBron and Miami a 48 hour ceasefire of criticism. A Celtics win will put the Heat squarely back in the crosshairs of public scrutiny. LeBron would undoubtedly be deemed the goat, and the media will call for this Miami roster and coaching staff to be blown up once again. Such is life though for the Miami Heat…personally, I can’t wait for Saturday night.