For the Heat, it became painfully obvious Friday night.
Boston is just better. Much better. Some teams simply have your number. That number reached 15 for Boston, as in 14 victories the last 15 times it faced the Heat.
Paul Pierce delivered a dagger as time expired in Friday's 100-98 victory to take a commanding 3-0 lead over the Heat in the best-of-7 first-round series that could very well be over on Sunday.
It's a case of Boston having too much firepower, too many options and too much mental toughness to withstand anything the Heat has thrown their way this season.
Miami fought this time. But it wasn't enough. The Heat ran out of gas at the finish and Wade lost his legs. Now, the Heat is in an overwhelming position. No team in NBA history has come back from an 0-3 deficit to win a series.
At this point, if Miami can somehow avoid being swept, it would be a major accomplishment. Pierce had 32 points, Ray Allen added 25, Rajon Rondo chipped in 17 points and eight assists and Kevin Garnett returned from suspension to deliver 16 points and eight rebounds.
D. WADE'S DOINGS: Question his decision to pull up for that long jumper with 13 seconds left in a tie game. But Wade was trying to make one last shot to get the Heat over the hump. He didn't have the legs to do it. Wade missed that jumper and then was overwhelmed by a severe cramp in his left calf, the same calf he strained a few months back. He was ailing for the final four minutes of the fourth quarter. He was basically playing on one leg. Still, Wade pushed the Heat with 34 points, eight assists, five rebounds, two steals and two blocks. He was 14 of 26 from the field, but 3 of 11 from three-point range. He settled for that jumper one too many times. But it's hard to question Wade's shot selection, because he's made too many difficult ones to rescue the Heat. Wade insists he'll have enough left to play Sunday. But there was a defeated look in his eyes as well as those of his teammates.
TURNING POINT: There were plenty of twists and turns in this one. In fact, there were 14 ties and 14 lead changes. Then, Paul Pierce got the ball at the top of the key, waited for 10 of the final 11 seconds to tick
off the clock and then launched his three over Dorell Wright. Swish. Game. And, barring a miracle, series. The question, at the time, was whether Miami should have fouled to force Boston to reset with as little time as possible. But ask yourself this: How much would that have really mattered the way Boston has played?
WINNING/LOSING EDGE: The Heat had another game in which careless mistakes cost it dearly. The Heat, which finished the season ranked fourth in the league in limiting turnovers, had 18 on Friday that led to 24 points for the Celtics. Through three games in this series, Miami has committed 55 turnovers that has led to a combined 77 points for the Celtics.
HEAD-SCRATCHER: What started off as a concern has become an outright disappearing act for the Heat. Jermaine O'Neal has become milk carton material. He's missing. He's lost. He's fallen and can't get up. O'Neal benched for the duration of the fourth quarter, and is in the midst of the worst three-game stretch of his career. O'Neal is 5 of 31 in this series. You expected the Heat to lose the battle at point guard. You expected Dwyane Wade to do enough, with a small contribution from Quentin Richardson or Dorell Wright, to offset Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. But you knew this series was going to be determined by the team that won the power forward/center matchup. Kevin Garnett, Glen Davis and Kendrick Perkins have thoroughly dominated Michael Beasley, Udonis Haslem and Jermaine O'Neal. Simple as that. Haslem and Beasley have at least shown a pulse in this series. O'Neal, for whatever reason, has been next to comatose. And it was all good with J.O. just a few weeks ago. Perhaps those knee and ankle injuries took more out of him than anyone thought.
KEY CONTRIBUTION: Dorell Wright and Michael Beasley combined for 31 points on 11 of 15 shooting
from the field in the loss. Miami needed this type of production from those guys earlier in this series. For the first time, Beasley stepped up and did his part. Also for the first time, Wright led a nice all-around effort from the Heat's bench. Still, it wasn't enough. When this is over, Miami will look back and realize it lost this series in Game 1. Miami had everything going its way in that game through most of the first three quarters. And then the collapse began. But Wright and Beasley played Friday like a pair of young, athletic and talented forwards who would make it tough for anyone to give up on those guys too soon. The problem is these type of performances haven't come often enough for either one of them this season.
NEXT UP: Boston Celtics at Heat, Sunday 1 p.m. AmericanAirlines Arena
(For live news, notes and updates on the Heat, follow me on Twitter @ twitter.com/wallacesports. To post a question or join our live Heat chat each Thursday from 1-2 p.m., click here.)
Comments