The Boston Celtics outrebounded the Heat 50-38 and they were up 87-81 late in the game last night…but that’s when the roof caved in.  The Heat scored the last 16 points of the game last night and LeBron James had the last 10 of them, which did the Celtics in.  Ray Allen led the way for the Celtics last night with 18 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.  Kevin Garnett had a very solid game with 15 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 blocked shot.  Paul Pierce (12 points) and Delonte West (10 points) also pitched in for the Celtics last night.  The Celtics lost this series in five games to the Heat.

The Boston Celtics just seemed to run out of steam last night in overtime where the Heat outscored them 12-4!  The Celtics were also outrebounded 45-28 and that also didn’t help things at all.  Paul Pierce led the way for the Celtics last night with 27 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocked shots.  Ray Allen pitched in with 17 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal last night.  Rajon Rondo and Delonte West each had 10 points apiece last night.  The Celtics are now down 3-1 in this series and they are in full blown desperation mode.

Rajon Rondo isn’t playing his best basketball against the Miami Heat but he is a true warrior.  He had his left elbow dislocated in Game #3 against the Heat due to a cheap shot.  He went into the lockerroom, had it popped back in….and then he returned to the game playing with essentially only his right arm.  With that in mind, he played pretty darn well as he inspired his team and the crowd.  He is vowing to play tonight but we’ll see.  Rondo has played in 3 games against the Heat so far in his series and he is averaging 36.3 minutes, 11.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 10.0 assists and 1.7 steals per game.  He is only shooting 13 for 33 (39.4%) from the floor in this series and it’s hard to see him improving to much on that number because of his injury.  Rondo has now played in 7 games (all starts) in the playoffs so far this year and he is averaging 39.6 minutes, 15.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, 11.1 assists and 1.3 steals per game.  Rondo is the heart of the Boston Celtics, so here’s to hoping that he will play tonight.

The Celtics shot 50% from the floor and the three point line (9 of 18) and that was a big reason for the impressive win last night.  The Celtics surged in the second half as they outscored the Heat 53-35.  Kevin Garnett got into the phone booth before the game and turned into Superman.  He led the way for the Celtics in this game with 28 points, 18 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 blocked shots on 13 of 20 shooting from the floor.  K.G. turned Chris Bosh into a pathetic player on the defensive end of the court last night.  Paul Pierce outplayed LeBrick last night as he finished up with 27 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals.  Ray Allen only shot 4 of 11 from the floor last night but he still finished up with 15 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists.  Delonte West pitched in with 11 points and 3 assists in 25 minutes off the bench.  Rajon Rondo dislocated his left elbow in the third quarter when Dwyane Wade yanked him down to the basketball court.  Rondo proved what kind of warrior he is by coming back shortly after getting his elbow popped back into place and he played well using just his right arm.  Rondo finished up with 6 points, 3 rebounds, 11 assists and 1 steal last night.  The Heat are still up 2-1 in this series but the Celtics are feeling pretty good about themselves after last night’s game.

The Celtics just couldn’t stop the Big Three of the Heat who dropped a combined 80 points on them last night, and it cost them this game.  Rajon Rondo led the way for the Celtics in this game with 20 points, 6 rebounds, 12 assists and 1 steal.  Kevin Garnett (16 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot) and Paul Pierce (13 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist) also had solid games for the Celtics last night.  Jeff Green (11 points) and Delonte West (10 points) also pitched in for the Celtics last night.  The Celtics are now down 2-0 as this series shifts to Boston over the weekend.

The Celtics looked flat yesterday as the Heat raced out to a 51-36 lead at the half.  Ray Allen was on his game as he led the way for the Celtics yesterday with 25 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal.  Paul Pierce also had a solid game with 19 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal before getting tossed late in the game on a B.S. technical call.  Delonte West pitched in with 10 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists in 26 minutes on the floor.  The Celtics are down 1-0 in this series as it seemed like the Heat got every single call in this series.

The Miami Heat has home court advantage in this series but the Celtics beat them 3 out of 4 games this year and they aren’t scared to play on the road.  This could be an epic series and here’s how I see the matchups:

POINT GUARD:  Mike Bibby started in the first playoff series against the Sixers but he’s on thin ice.  He played in 5 games (all starts) in the series against the Sixers and he averaged 19.8 minutes, 3.2 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game.  Bibby only shot 6 of 28 (21.4%) from three-point range in the first round of the playoffs.  Mario Chalmers will likely see a lot of P.T. in this series.

Rajon Rondo is going to cause big matchup problems for the Heat.  He played in 4 games (all starts) against the Knicks in the first round of the playoffs and he averaged 42.0 minutes, 19.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, 12.0 assists and 1.0 steal per game.  Rondo is too physical for the point guards of the Heat.

EDGE:  HUGE FOR CELTICS

SHOOTING GUARD:  Dwyane Wade is the best player on the Miami Heat, because he’s not scared to take a big shot.  He played in 5 games (all starts) against the Sixers and he averaged 38.0 minutes, 22.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 2.o blocked shots per game.  D-Wade has a history of stepping up when pushed, so I look for him to have a good series against the Celtics.

Ray Allen is the ice man for the Celtics.  He hit an amazing 17 of 26 (65.4%) shots from three point range against the Knicks as he appears locked in.  Allen played in 4 games (all starts) against the Knicks and he averaged 40.0 minutes, 22.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game.  Allen will likely have to work harder for points against the Heat, but he will get his fair share.

EDGE:  HEAT

SMALL FORWARD:  Last season, LeBron James mysteriously hurt his elbow against the Celtics in the playoffs, but the many MRIs he had showed no problems.  I think the Celtics are in James’ head and it certainly doesn’t help that Delonte West (very, very good friends with LeBron’s mom) will be coming off the bench for Boston.  James played in 5 games (all starts) against the 76ers in the first round of the playoffs and he averaged 42.2 minutes, 24.2 points, 10.6 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game.  The Heat can’t win this series without James playing big….which I think he won’t.  When the pressure really gets amped up, James has disappeared in his NBA career.

Paul Pierce is Mr. Clutch for the Celtics.  He also plays very well usually against LeBron James.  Pierce played in 4 games (all starts) against the Knicks and he averaged 39.0 minutes, 22.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game.  Pierce is also red hot from three point range as he hit 10 of 20 shots (50%) from three point range against the Knicks.

EDGE:  EVEN

POWER FORWARD:  Chris Bosh played well in the first two games and the last game against the Sixers.  In the Game #3 and #4 he relapsed into the soft player he has been most of the year.  Bosh needs to step up in this series, because it’s going to be very physical under the basket.  Bosh played in 5 games (all starts) against the Sixers in the first round of the playoffs and he averaged 19.8 points, 9.0 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 1.0 steal and 1.2 blocked shots per game.  Bosh, like James, has never been much of a clutch player in the playoffs.

Kevin Garnett looked outstanding in the first round of the playoffs as he clearly outplayed Amare Stoudemire.  Garnett played in 4 games (all starts) against the Knicks and he averaged 34.0 minutes, 15.5 points, 11.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game.  Garnett is going to likely be pushing Bosh around in this series and I look for him to levy some hard fouls on LeBron James and D-Wade if they come into his neighborhood in the paint.

EDGE:  CELTICS

CENTER:  Zydrunas Ilgauskas has been starting at center, but not playing a whole lot.  I look for that to continue in this series.  Ilgauskas played in 5 games (all starts) against the Sixers and he averaged 13.4 minutes, 5.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game.  It’s going to be rough under the basket in this series, so I expect that Joel Anthony will place more than Big Z in this series.

Jermaine O’Neal has been amping up the D during the playoffs.  He also would probably like to stick it to the Heat, who didn’t want him back this year.  O’Neal played in 4 games (all starts) against the Knicks and he averaged 23.0 minutes, 5.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 2.5 blocked shots per game. 

EDGE:  EVEN

BENCH:  Point guard Mario Chalmers might have a big role in this series for the Heat as Mike Bibby is likely going to get abused by Rajon Rondo.  Chalmers played in 5 games (0 starts) against the Sixers and he averaged 24.6 minutes, 7.4 points, 1.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game.  Joel Anthony will probably get the most P.T. at center for the Heat  in this series as it’s going to be very physical in the paint.  Anthony played in 5 games (0 starts) against the Sixers and he averaged 31.0 minutes, 3.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, 0.2 assists and 1.4 blocked shots per game.  SG/SF James Jones will be the long range assassin for the Heat in this series.  He played in 5 games (0 starts) against the Sixers and he averaged 24.4 minutes, 7.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. 

Forward Glen “Big Baby” Davis is one of the best backup bigs in the NBA and he’s going to get a lot of work in this series.  Davis played in 4 games (0 starts) against the Knicks and he averaged 24.8 minutes, 6.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.0 assist.  I think Davis is going to top those numbers in this series.  Forward Jeff Green will also likely get his fair share of P.T. in this series.  Green played in 4 games (0 starts) against the Knicks and he averaged 16.8 minutes, 6.0 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.  PG/SG Delonte West will be the Celtics’ #3 guard in this series and he will likely have LeBron’s mothers full attention from court side.  West played in 4 games (0 starts) against the Knicks and he averaged 13.5 minutes, 2.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.  Center Nenad Krstic will also likely see a small bump in P.T.  Krstic played in 4 games (0 starts) against the Knicks and he averaged 5.8 minutes, 1.0 point, 2.0 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.

EDGE:  SLIGHT FOR CELTICS

COACHING:  Erik Spoelstra looks like he finally has the faith of the Heat players as he led them to a 4-1 series win over the Sixers.  He is still a little wet behind the ears as far as coaching in the playoffs as his career record is now 8-9 (47.1%). 

Doc Rivers is one of the best big game coaches in the NBA today.  He led his team to a sweep of the Knicks in the first round of the playoffs.  Rivers is now 45-30 (60%) for the Celtics in the playoffs  during his career there.

EDGE:  CELTICS

PREDICTION:  LeBron James and Chris Bosh are two of the least clutch players in the NBA, while the Celtics are loaded with clutch players.  I like the Celtics to beat the Heat in 6 games.

Starting power forward Kevin Garnett really looked solid against the Knicks in the first round of the playoffs.  Garnett played in 4 games (all starts) against the Knicks and he averaged 34.0 minutes, 15.5 points, 11.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game.  With the likely opponent in Round #2 of the playoffs being the Miami Heat, K.G. becomes even more important.  Garnett will need to push around Chris Bosh (which he will), while defending the basket to help stop drives by LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.  I think he will rise to that challenge and have a huge series against the Heat (if that’s who they wind up playing next).

The Boston Celtics outrebounded the Knicks 53-42 today and they held them to 34.1% shooting from the floor which explains the nice road win.  Kevin Garnett led the way for the Celtics today with 26 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 2 blocked shots.  Rajon Rondo also had a very solid game with 21 points, 5 rebounds and 12 assists today.  Glen Davis (14 points), Ray Allen (14 points) and Paul Pierce (13 points) also pitched in for the Celtics today.  The Celtics finished off the Knicks by sweeping them in 4 games.  They will now rest up until the Heat-Sixers series is over.

The Celtics outscored the Knicks 86-63 in the first three quarters before calling off the dogs.  The Celtics shot 50.6% from the floor and they outrebounded the Knicks 43-33 last night which helps explain the rather easy win.  Paul Pierce (38 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 3 steals) and Ray Allen (32 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals) were on fire for the Celtics last night.  Rajon Rondo pitched in with a triple-double as he had 15 points, 11 rebounds, 20 assists and 2 steals.  The Celtics are now up 3-0 on the Knicks and they will try to close them out in the next game.