Heat-Celtics Preview
By JIMMY GOLEN
Posted May 08 2011 6:50PM
WALTHAM,
Mass. (AP) Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers did his best to stay out of
the trainer's room on Sunday, lest he learn something about one of his
injured players that he didn't want to hear.
"It's a pretty busy
room right now," he said on Sunday, a day after the Celtics earned a
bruising 97-81 victory over the Miami Heat in Game 3 of the Eastern
Conference semifinals despite injuries to point guards Rajon Rondo and
Delonte West. "Right now, we're going to go with, 'They're all
playing."'
Rondo dislocated his left elbow in the third quarter on
Saturday night when he got tangled up with Miami guard Dwyane Wade and
got thrown to the floor. He had an MRI and CAT scan at New England
Baptist Hospital on Sunday, and both tests came out negative, Celtics
spokesman Jeff Twiss said.
West, who had a bruised left shoulder,
was feeling better on Sunday and did not go to the hospital for tests,
Twiss said. Rivers said he would likely decide just before gametime - or
later - whether Rondo will play.
"I'm optimistic about both, that
they're going to play. I don't know why I am, but I am," Rivers said,
adding that he has tried to avoid watching the video of Rondo's arm
being bent into an unnatural position when he was thrown to the floor by
Wade. "I just don't know how well either one can play."
The
Celtics returned to Boston after losing the first two games in Miami and
showed the fight that had been lacking when they fell behind 0-2. Kevin
Garnett scored 28 points with 18 rebounds - more than he had in the
first two games combined - and Paul Pierce added 27 points for the
defending Eastern Conference champions.
Game 4 is Monday night, and the Celtics are hoping to tie the series before it shifts back to Miami.
To do that, they'll need Rondo.
The
youngest - by far - of Boston's four All-Stars, Rondo was injured early
in the second half when he was fouled by Wade. Doctors popped his elbow
back into place in the locker room and he was back on the court at the
start of the fourth quarter, dribbling, passing and shooting with his
right arm while leaving his left dangling at his side.
"All of us
sort of looked at each other like, 'What is he doing out here?"' Garnett
said. "He's showing a lot of heart (and) a lot of grit. We see it. That
doesn't go unspoken or unseen. We see he's out there giving his full
effort. We're following that lead."
Rondo finished with 11 assists
and six points, including a pair of one-armed baskets in the fourth
quarter that the Celtics called the spark they had been lacking.
"Listen," Rivers said with a laugh, "I played with one hand my entire career. So you can do it. And he did it.
"Players
play. We can all tell our war stories. But very few could do that -
especially in this situation. They try, but very few could succeed.
Yesterday was just another example of an NBA player not caring about his
health and trying to help the team."
Rondo was not available for
comment on Sunday, but he said after the game that he was not concerned.
Rivers said he was laying on the trainer's table, with his elbow
wrapped in ice, "half-asleep" from painkillers. Both teams described the
play as a hard foul, and neither felt that Wade was trying to injure
Rondo with the takedown.
"He's about as tough a guy as you'll come
across in this league," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "I wasn't even
surprised that he came back. He's that type of competitor. You don't
like to see anybody injured at this time of year, even your opponent. We
want to beat Boston when they're at their best and their healthiest."
Wade didn't want to talk about it.
"I'm
not answering questions about that. I'm done with that. I'm moving on,"
he said. "Ain't nobody fighting, this is basketball. Keep them back
from what? They going to beat me up? Did everybody watch the replay? All
right.
"I'm done. I've moved on from that."
Rondo and West
aren't Boston's only injuries. Center Shaquille O'Neal was also dealing
with swelling in his right calf after playing 8 minutes, 29 seconds -
his first appearance of the playoffs and just his second since Feb. 1.
"I think he's going to have that for the rest of the year," Rivers said.
And
the Heat have injury problems of their own. Chris Bosh woke up with a
pinched nerve in his neck, though he said it was no excuse for his
performance in the game; he scored six points with five rebounds in 30
minutes.
"The way we've been successful all year is by executing
our offense, and a lot of that offense runs through Chris," Spoelstra
said. "We have to help him as well."
Udonis Haslem still is not
ready to return from November foot surgery. And there are more than a
few bruised egos on the Miami said.
LeBron James scored 15 points
on 6-for-16 shooting, adding seven rebounds and four assists for his
worst playoff performance in more than three years. Combined, Miami's
Big Three had a total of 44 points - the fewest since they joined
together amid much hoopla during the offseason.
The answer, James said, could be even more physical play of the type that filled the Celtics training room.
"We've
got to be aggressive. They're a very aggressive team. The only way you
counter aggressiveness is to be aggressive on the other end, too," he
said "We know we didn't play as well as we wanted to - probably our
worst game of the postseason. We're looking to get better in Game 4."
Copyright
2011 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or
distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and
Associated Press is strictly prohibited
James, Wade lead Heat past Celtics 98-90 in OT
By JIMMY GOLEN
Posted May 10 2011 4:24AM
BOSTON
(AP) LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh are on the verge of
doing something together that neither of them could accomplish on his
own.
Miami's Big Three combined for 83 points as the Heat beat
Boston 98-90 in overtime on Monday night to move within one game of the
Eastern Conference finals. James scored 35, Wade had 28 and the
threesome also combined for 35 of Miami's 45 rebounds.
"We're the
guys. We're the ones who get all the attention. We're the ones that get
all the praise," Wade said. "This team is going to go as far as us three
takes it."
One game after their worst performance as a threesome,
James, Wade and Bosh had one of their best. They scored all 12 of
Miami's points in overtime; Bosh and Wade had five apiece after James'
fallaway jumper on the Heat's first possession of the extra period gave
them the lead for good.
The Heat lead the best-of-seven East semifinals 3-1, with a chance to close out the series in Miami on Wednesday.
"Wednesday
night will be our greatest challenge that we've had with this group so
far," coach Erik Spoelstra said. "We'll get their best games on
Wednesday. And we have to be better. If we're real about what we want to
do, we have to beat the Boston Celtics at their best."
Paul
Pierce scored 27, Ray Allen had 17 and Kevin Garnett had seven points
and 10 rebounds for Boston. Rajon Rondo, who dislocated his left elbow
Saturday night in Game 3, played 39 minutes with a padded sleeve
covering what appeared to be a brace on his left arm, scoring 10 with
five assists.
The Celtics would need to win three in a row - two
of them in Miami - to have a chance to defend their Eastern Conference
championship.
"These are those moments. I look forward to it,"
Allen said. "Everybody on this team, we know what to do. We can't talk
about it; we just have to put our best foot forward. It's not easy. It
just makes it that much more special if we're able to do it."
Copyright 2011 by STATS LLC and Associated Press.
