Lebron and Wade score 50 to prevent the Celtics their first win


The second game of the lockout season is against the defending eastern conference champions the Miami Heat.  Paul Pierce will miss his second straight game due to a bruised bone in his heel.  Sasha Pavlovic will start along side of Rondo, Allen, Garnett and Jermaine.  I expected Doc to use all 13 dressed players today as both these teams play a physical defensive style causing a lot of whistles but that didn't happen.  The Celtics lost 115-107 in a game they trailed throughout the whole 48 minutes.

            Miami hosts their season home opener with a bloodthirsty attitude.  Dismantling the Mavericks on ring night was impressive and they look to continue their quest for number 2, or Lebron and Chris Bosh’s first title.  They should have no difficulty without the captain in the line up and the home court advantage, where Boston failed to win a game there in the playoffs.

Miami has done a great job throughout the first half of the first quarter getting the whistle blown with Boston playing more physical to start this game.  Chris Bosh nails a three pointer to put Miami up 18-11 with Doc taking his first time out with 6:54 left in the first.   Boston continues to turn the ball over with their passes getting intercepted for fast break points from the athletic Miami wings.

Boston starts the second quarter with a line up of Avery Bradley, Ray Allen, Marquis Daniels, Kevin Garnett and Chris Wilcox. Doc’s first substitution brings Rondo and Sasha Pavlovic in for Avery and Marquis.  The first time out of the second quarter came at the nine minute mark with Miami leading 38-29 as Doc has seen enough.  Ray Allen (-9) and Kevin Garnett (-11) have not helped make themselves known in this game outside of Ray’s early going.  Boston needs to establish their offense, which is very hard without Paul Pierce.

           Miami picked up their defensive intensity tremendously in the middle of the second quarter jumping out to a 51-36 lead with 5:38 left in the third quarter. The Heat have been the beneficiary of 10 more free throw attempts and 12 turnovers so far from Boston.  Until the Celtics pick up their ball movement on the offensive end and defend, being the second game in a row allowing the opponent over 50 for the first half.
         
Boston starts the second quarter with a line up of Avery Bradley, Ray Allen, Marquis Daniels, Kevin Garnett and Chris Wilcox. Doc’s first substitution brings Rondo and Sasha Pavlovic in for Avery and Marquis.  The first time out of the second quarter came at the nine minute mark with Miami leading 38-29 as Doc has seen enough.  Ray Allen (-9) and Kevin Garnett (-11) have not helped make themselves known in this game outside of Ray’s early going.  Boston needs to establish their offense, which is very hard without Paul Pierce.

With 2:11 left in the quarter, Rondo has been assigned to guarding Lebron James.  Boston has no answers for the transition offense by the Miami Heat and with the amount of turnovers that the Celtics have, this is will be a losing situation.  Miami closed the half with a 69-54 lead.  Miami shot 66 percent in the first half. Boston needs to do a better job of defending and controlling the pace in the second half. 
            To start the second half, the Celtics went with their starting line up,  Chris Wilcox will not return for the second half with a bruised left shoulder, x-rays were negative.  Boston forced 4 turnovers in the first two minutes of play picking up that defensive intensity, they will need to sustain this for 22 more minutes if they want to win. 

The game saw it’s most intense 3 minutes up until the 4:23 mark with both teams rotating well on defense while the offensive players make plays.  We see an alley oop to Lebron, a three by Ray and a foul and made basket by Rajon Rondo.   Boston’s change to a zone defense has helped them control the pace of the game as well as force turnovers.

At the end of three quarters, the Heat led the Celtics by 8 points with a 91-83 score.  The story of this game has been the offensive efficiency by both teams.  The Celtics are shooting 53.7 percent from the field, 71.4 percent from the free throw line and 80 percent from the free throw line, however they have trailed all game. The Heat are shooting 59.3 percent from the field, 62.5 percent from three point, and 75.9 percent at the line.

          Miami has played smart on the offensive end with Dwyane Wade and Lebron James not attempting one three pointer in the first three quarters.  The Heat have also forced 14 steals and have 7 blocks being very active on both ends of the floor.  Boston will need to play lock down defense and a miracle to come from behind on the best team in the league.

            Boston continues their zone defense as Kevin Garnett heads to the bench.  Unable to handle the pick and rolls and switches against this Miami team, Doc opted to try some zones.  The Heat trade punch for punch, right now the Celtics wish they didn’t dig themselves into this hole to begin with.

Boston got to within 3 points late in the fourth quarter but could not overcome the large deficit and big plays made by Norris Cole.  Miami won the game 115-107 as the Celtics move onto the New Orleans Hornets hoping to get their first win of the regular season and salvage what is left of the current three game road trip.