The Boston Celtics beat the Heat in Miami by 117-87. It was actually worse than the score suggests.
The Celtic’s ‘sub’ dudes subdued the Heat.
This was a ‘Ripley’s Believe or Not’ game.
There are two Ripley’s ‘Believe It Or Not’ Museums in Florida. The things you can see there are really something….or not. But you would have had to drive past St. Augustine and Orlando to get to the best ‘believe it or not’ in the state tonight. It happened at the American Airlines Arena in Miami.
The league’s best team played the league’s worst. (Right now, I’d take Minnesota in a game between the two.) Without a doubt, the Heat, sans a healthy Shaq and Alonzo Mourning are a different team entirely.
Even three time Coach of the Year (with 3 different teams) Pat Riley, he of 1,204 regular season wins in 23 years and 11 Coach of the Month Honors can’t make a Shaq and Alonzo-less team have a back bone. The team is on a plummet without a parachute of 1-16 and just ended a 15 game losing streak on the 26th against the Pacers. It is fairly safe to say that he was won’t be Coach of the Month this month.
The Celtics led by as many as 39, won by 30 and….. believe it or not….
1) Kevin Garnett didn’t play. (Abdominal strain)
2) Ray Allen didn’t play. (Flu)
3) Paul Pierce had only 7 points.
4) The Celtics had four 20 point scorers.
4) Leon Powe led the team in scoring. Career high 25 points. Season high in rebounds
5) Rajon Rondo had 23 points in 25 minutes on 8-10 shooting. Ties his career high.
6) Tony Allen had 20 points, 6 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. His season high in assists. Ties his season high in points
7) Eddie House had 20 points in 23 minutes with 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals (4 TOs).
His season high in points. 
Dwayne Wade only scored 7 points, his season low, on 1-9 shooting.
9) Paul Pierce didn’t even score until they had 60 points on the board.
Believe it.
A number of interesting things occurred tonight. The fact that they played so hard and so well speaks to Doc Rivers preparation of the entire team. They played excellent defense even without their ‘goalie’ Kevin Garnett back there to save them. They played with purpose and executed a game plan that did not include going to Paul Pierce all of the time. Nor did it need to.
Rajon Rondo ate up Jason Williams and anyone else who tried to stop him from penetrating, especially in a first quarter when he scored 13 points on an assortment of drives and lay-ups.
They were running pick and rolls and passing the ball effectively enough to confuse what little defensive effort the Heat were making.
Seeing Mark Blount as the Heat starting center brought back memories of the Celtic’s porous defense of a few years ago. The size challenged Celtics made excellent use of the opportunities with 46 points in the paint before the night was through.
Leon Powe replaced Brian Scalabrine at the 7:35 mark of the first quarter and went on to play 36 plus minutes of solid basketball while playing within his skills. This kind of recent performance was what I thought we might see to start the year from Leon, granted not in so many minutes.
Even with Kendrick Perkins playing only 18 minutes, the Celtics grabbed 51 rebounds to Miami’s 36.
The Celtics impressed as they played within a scheme and stayed within the game plan with great results. The Heat looked like they had given up early.
There is lottery talk in Miami now and Pat Riley once again looks at possibly getting out from coaching.
There have been comparisons of this Celtic team to the Miami Heat, regarding trying to trade for an NBA title. The implication is that Miami now is what Boston could look like in a few years.
Somehow, I don’t see Kevin Garnett as washed up at age 35. He is one of the most athletic players in the history of the game and keeps himself in superb shape.
Eyebrows will be raised around the water cooler when it sets in that it the was Celtic role players who soundly outplayed the Miami team. 61 points were scored by the bench. This is after considering that 2 bench players became starters tonight. Miami is missing 2 great players, but only one is a starter. The Celtics were even more indisposed with Ray Allen and Kevin out.
This game was a good change of pace for the Celtics. They did not have to face size and they did not have to face speed, great defense, or formidable scoring. They matched up very well and it gave some players a good chance to contribute in big ways.
The Celtics shot .513 from the field, .476 from the 3 point line, and .771 from the free throw line, while holding Miami to .358 from the field, and .294 from the 3 point line. That was only because Luke Jackson came in during the 4th quarter and went 4-5 from downtown. The rest of the team shot only 1-12 from beyond the perimeter.
Boston is now 35-8.
Boston’s next game is Thursday in Boston against Dallas. Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen may not play that night either. Stay tuned.
