NBA 2010-2011 Season Opener: Celtics 1, Heat 0.

Those are the numbers after the much-anticipated season opener between the two teams many assume will ultimately face off in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The first game of the season is always exciting, but this one was different. Last year's Eastern Conference champs who fell to the Lakers in 7, now with a healthy roster and some key additions, against the biggest story of the summer: the team that won the LeBron Sweepstakes, the NBA's new villains. The media presence, ticket sales, and the crowd at Boston's TD Garden were all playoff-esque.

The game itself? Not so much. At least, not to begin with. The Heat scored a measly 9 first-quarter points. They picked it up a bit in the second quarter but still ended the half with only 30 points on 26% shooting. Meanwhile, the Celtics led by as much as 19 and, at the half, had 45 points on (somewhere around) 46% shooting. They also won the battle of the bench (14 points to Miami's 7--special mention Glen Davis and Marquis Daniels, who were great) and outscored Miami in the paint by double figures.

Things started to get exciting in the second half. LeBron started to do his thing, like he was back in Cleveland and like it was his team (as opposed to Wade's). The ball was in his hands, he shot a bunch of 3s (and so did Jones... Who? Yeah, that's what I said) and scored 15 of his 31 points in the third quarter. Bosh was something of a pest, grabbing offensive boards throughout the game. Meanwhile, the Celtics showed that they still have the same bad habits: turnovers (18), offensive fouls (on illegal screens), and, oh yeah, blowing big leads. (Also, Paul Pierce fell on his back after a collision with LeBron and had to retreat into the locker room for treatment. And yes, he did come back out to play. No, not on a wheelchair.)

By the end of the third quarter, Boston's lead was down to 6, and by the 1:10 mark of the fourth quarter, Miami had cut the lead to 83-80.

Out of a timeout, Ray Allen (team-high 20 points) hit a timely 3 to bring the lead back up to 6. Miami in turn called a timeout and drew up a play for a Wade 3, which he missed. With 46 seconds left, Boston dribbled off the seconds on the shot clock to use up as much time as possible. With 6 seconds left on the shot clock, Wade made the costly mistake of fouling Pierce. Pierce made both free throws, and the remaining 26 or so seconds thereafter were uneventful and inconsequential.

Final score: 88-80, Celtics.

So, what do we get out of this game?

The Celtics look like they're in much better shape than they were last season. The big 3 are healthy (KG looks a lot like his old self), Rondo is his usual self, the old bench guys showed that they are capable of holding down the fort, and Shaq looks to be a good fit with the team. After 10 games, Delonte West will be able to join the crew, and sometime next year, so will Kendrick Perkins, adding even more depth to the roster. However, the team still is plagued by the same bad habits that ultimately cost them the title last season, and that should be a cause for concern.

The Heat obviously have issues to work out. They're a new team who haven't been playing together long. They gave away most of their roster, so after their "big 3," the dropoff in talent is pretty significant.
Despite these issues, this team's potential to be phenomenal is evident. LeBron showed he's still the same old LeBron who can completely take over a game and cut into a double-digit lead in a matter of minutes. Bosh showed that he might be the third scoring option, but he can still make a difference on the boards. Wade had a bad game, but he spent most of the preseason recovering from injury; he will get into his groove, and when he does, we'll get to see what this new superteam can do at full strength.

So all in all, this was a fun game, and it showed us some things about two teams we expect to see in late May and June. One team now was a 1-0 record, whereas the other has an 0-1. And that's about it. One regular-season game down, 81 to go.

*Point of Interest (to me, at least): Each of these teams has added two members who played for the Cavs last season: LeBron and Big Z in Miami, and Shaq and Delonte West in Boston (the latter of whom used to be a Celtic anyway). Furthermore, both teams have a player who won a championship with the other team: Shaq won a championship with Miami in 2006, and Eddie House won one with Boston in 2008. Also, Jermaine O'Neal, now playing for Boston, spent the previous two seasons with Miami.

NBA Playoffs Results

vs(From the Associated Press) - The Boston Celtics have a few days off to prepare for the second round of the NBA playoffs and a matchup with LeBron James.

Dwyane Wade has all summer to recruit him.

Ray Allen scored 24 points, making five 3-pointers in the second half to help Boston beat Miami 96-86 on Tuesday night and eliminate the Heat in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series. The Celtics will play James and the Cavaliers in a seven-game Eastern Conference semifinal series that will open Saturday in Cleveland.

“I think it’s a great matchup. It’s great for basketball—such a classic series,” said Paul Pierce, who scored 21 points on Tuesday. “They’re the team to beat right now. They showed it through the course of the season the way they played. We know this is going to be a tough series, another really, really tough series.”

Wade scored 31 points, far short of the franchise postseason-record 46 he had Sunday in Miami to help the Heat stave off elimination in Game 4. Now that the Heat are done, he can become a free agent—the No. 2 prize in one of the hottest offseason markets in memory.

“I can’t predict the future,” Wade said, his mood somber but his outfit resplendent. “It’s going to be a very important summer. It’s going to be a busy summer. But right now I’ve still got to get this out of my system first. I’m a good sportsman, but I don’t take losing well.”

Rajon Rondo scored 16 points, adding 12 assists and eight rebounds as Boston opened a 21-point lead and then held on after Miami cut the deficit to 73-70 with 10:14 to play. Allen drove and drew a foul and goaltending call on Joel Anthony to make it six points, then hit a 3-pointer 90 seconds later to extend the lead to eight.

Kevin Garnett made a pair of outside shots and Pierce made one from inside to make it a 12-point game with 6 minutes left. With 1:18 remaining and Boston leading by 10, the scoreboard showed the disco-dancing “Gino” video the Celtics has been using to celebrate victories since the championship run in ’08.

“It’s never too early to play ‘Gino’ in this building,” Garnett said.

The Cavaliers beat Chicago 96-94 later Tuesday to clinch their first-round series in five games. But even before it was over, the Celtics were already thinking about James.

“We just have to come out with a defensive mindset, keep LeBron from getting on fire,” center Kendrick Perkins said in the on-court, postgame scoreboard interview while the Cavaliers and Bulls were early in the third quarter.

The Celtics hooked up with James and the Cavaliers for seven games in the conference semis in 2008 on the way to Boston’s unprecedented 17th NBA championship. But Cleveland has since surpassed Boston in the standings and earned the home-court advantage through the NBA finals.

Asked directly if the Celtics can beat Cleveland—the Cavs and Bulls were tied in the fourth quarter at the time—Celtics coach Doc Rivers said, “Well, I’ll let you know.”

The Celtics led by as many as 21 points in the third before Miami scored 16 of the next 18 points to make it 69-62. Wade scored 13 in what turned into a 24-6 run that cut the deficit to 73-70 on his three-point play with 10:14 left in the game.

Wade scored 20 in the second half in all; he also finished with 10 assists and eight rebounds. But he was just 10-for-24 shooting and 2 for 7 from 3-point range in the game. He missed all three of his 3-point tries in the fourth quarter as the Heat tried to eat away at the remainder of the Celtics’ big lead.

Wade, who averaged 33.2 points in the series, can now join James on the free agent market, with the possibility that the two could wind up together in Miami next year or another team that would be an instant title contender.

“This will be my last first-round exit for a while, I can tell you that,” Wade said. “I’m looking forward to continuing to build, and being with some great players next year, continuing to beef up our roster.

“I think I put myself in a great situation three years ago, to sign this deal, to make sure my team stayed competitive. We’ve got some work to do, the front office has (work) to do. You just have to see things being done, being accomplished. If we see that,” he told a Miami-area reporter, “we’ll be talking again.”

It was the second straight night a Boston team clinched a playoff series at the TD Garden. On Monday, the Bruins beat the Buffalo Sabres in Game 6 to advance to the NHL’s Eastern Conference semifinals and a matchup with either the Montreal Canadiens or Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Celtics made four 3-pointers in the first 4:37 of the third quarter and took a 67-46 lead with 7 minutes left. But Mario Chalmers hit back-to-back 3 pointers and Wade followed soon after with a pair of free throws and a pair of 3-pointers to make it 69-62 with 2:18 left in the third.

Miami cut it to three before Allen drove and drew a foul and goaltending call on Joel Anthony.

vs(From the Associated Press) - LeBron James pulled his right arm tightly to his chest, unable to do anything but grimace as the final seconds expired on Cleveland’s series-clinching win.

The Bulls were finally out of the way.

But for the Cavaliers, moving on in the NBA playoffs wasn’t pain free.

James, playing despite an injured right elbow that went numb and forced him to shoot a free throw left-handed in the closing seconds, just missed a triple-double as the Cavs advanced to a playoff date with Boston by beating Chicago 96-94 in Game 5 on Tuesday night in perhaps Vinny Del Negro’s final game as Bulls coach.

James scored 19 points—16 in the second half—and added 10 rebounds and nine assists as the Cavs finally saddled the stubborn Bulls to win the series 4-1. After making one free throw, James then hoisted and missed the second with his left with 7.8 seconds left and the Cavs only ahead by four.

James doesn’t know when he injured the elbow, which he said bothered him the entire second half. He revealed after the game that he underwent an MRI and X-rays two days ago.

“It bothers me because I don’t know what it is,” James said. “Hopefully it doesn’t continue to bother me. But I’m not concerned. Cleveland fans have nothing to worry about. They have no reason to panic. I don’t think it’s that serious.”

Antawn Jamison scored 25 points and Shaquille O’Neal 14 for Cleveland, which will face Boston, reuniting teams that don’t like each other and who played a testy seven-game series in 2008.

Game 1 is Saturday.

“A lot of people are saying they’re too old, but we know they’re going to come out and give us their best shot,” said Jamison, who was not with the Cavs the last time Cleveland met Boston in the postseason. “It’s going to be a hard-fought series. It should be fun.”

Derrick Rose scored 31 points and Luol Deng 26 for Chicago, which had several shots roll in and out in the final minutes.

Given little chance against the league’s top team during the regular season, the Bulls gave the top-seeded Cavaliers all they could handle.

Delonte West had 16 points and O’Neal racked up fouls during the second half against Chicago’s big men.

The Cavs were intent on closing out the series at home but they couldn’t shake the Bulls, who were trying to send the series back to Chicago for Game 6.

When Jamison buried a 3-pointer with 3:30 left, Cleveland was up 93-84, and for the first time all night Cavaliers fans finally started thinking about a matchup with the Celtics, who eliminated Miami earlier.

The Bulls, though, had other plans.

Deng hit a jumper and two free throws before Rose, who made Cleveland defenders look silly all series, made four straight from the line to pull the Bulls within 93-92 with 1:32 remaining. Two free throws by James then gave Cleveland a three-point lead with 1:11 left.

Rose then tried a short shot in the lane that went halfway down before spinning out.

Cleveland’s Mo Williams, who shot a dismal 2 for 13, then missed a baseline runner but the ball went out of bounds off Chicago’s Joakim Noah. The Bulls did get the ball back on a steal, but Rose forced up an awkward left-handed layup over Anderson Varejao that was short.

James grabbed the rebound and was fouled. He made his first attempt to make it 96-92, but with his elbow causing him pain, he tried his second shot left-handed and it was way off the mark.

“I knew we were up four,” James said. “I would have shot it right-handed if I had to make it. I’ve never had problem with my elbow before.”

Down four, the Bulls got a layin by Deng just before the buzzer.

James, who wore a sleeve on his right arm for the second straight game, refused to address his injury before the game.

“I don’t know what is up with it, but I’m ready to play,” he said.

So were the Bulls, who fought until the end to prolong their season—and for Del Negro.

Chicago, which had to win down the stretch to earn the No. 8 seed, entered the playoffs amid controversy surrounding its coach. Del Negro reportedly got into a physical confrontation with vice president of basketball operations John Paxson last month, an incident the team downplayed but could have long-term effects.

“I don’t even think about that stuff,” Del Negro said when asked if he thought he had coached his final game. “I enjoy the experience, I enjoy the competitiveness. It’s about the players to me. I’m proud of the guys, I’m proud of the way they stuck together. They played hard and played through adversity.

“I can’t worry about that. I don’t worry about it. I know how hard my staff has worked and what we’ve done here the last two years. How anyone wants to judge that will judge it and we’ll move on. I’ve been too fortunate in my career and my life to worry about those things. Those decisions will be made now moving forward.”

Rose said he would hate to see his coach fired.

“We both came in as rookies. It would be devastating,” Rose said. “But it’s not up to me, it’s up to the front office. They’re the ones that drafted me, so I guess I’m behind them.”

Rose said it would be hard to imagine the Bulls firing their coach after making the playoffs.

“It would be unusual, especially since it’s our second time (in the playoffs),” Rose said. “But the league changes constantly. I guess that’s how it is in the NBA. It’s tough to coach up here.”

Cleveland’s plan in the fourth quarter was to force the ball inside to O’Neal and let the Big Diesel power his way to the basket.

O’Neal drew two fouls in a five-second span on Chicago’s Brad Miller, who was doing all he could to keep the 325-pounder out of the lane. Del Negro and the Bulls assistants protested the second foul and Miller had to be grabbed by his teammates before he got called for a technical.

One minute later, O’Neal got Noah to reach in and commit his fourth foul. The Cavs immediately went into O’Neal again, and this time he spun on Noah and dunked on the Bulls’ outspoken center, sending the nervous, sellout crowd into a momentary frenzy.

NBA Playoffs Results

vs(From the Associated Press) - Dwyane Wade watched the 3-pointer drop perfectly through the net, then turned upcourt and extended the fingers on his right hand.

And he screamed.

“In kid-friendly terms,” Wade would say later, “I was telling him he was hot.”

That hand—that player—had never been hotter in a postseason game, either. And that’s why Miami’s season isn’t over.

Playing what might have been his final game in Miami, Wade scored 46 points, 30 in the second half—both franchise records—and the Heat beat the Boston Celtics 101-92 on Sunday in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference first-round series. He made 16-of-24 shots, 5 of 7 from 3-point range, and outscored the Celtics 19-15 in the fourth quarter.

“Phenomenal,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said.

“Greatness,” offered Heat coach Erik Spoelstra.

Heat forward Quentin Richardson went even further, likening his teammate to a superhero.

“Sometimes, you know, he puts on the cape, man,” Richardson said. “There’s not a lot of things you can do when he’s playing that way.”

Boston would concur.

The Celtics still lead the best-of-seven 3-1, and get a chance to close it out in Boston on Tuesday night. But their worst fear came true Sunday.

Miami has hope.

“They did what they were supposed to do, which is defend the home court,” Celtics forward Kevin Garnett said. “And now we’re thinking the same thing going back home.”

Richardson scored 20 points and Michael Beasley added 15 for the Heat, who wasted an 18-point, first-half lead before digging deep to extend the season.

Rajon Rondo led the Celtics with 23 points. Garnett had 18 points and 12 rebounds, Paul Pierce scored 16 and Ray Allen added 15 for Boston, which was bidding for its first 4-0 sweep of a series since 1986.

“It’s not a big deal,” Rondo said. “We just have to close it out now in five. We’re confident.”

So is Miami.

Especially Wade.

Leg cramps kept him off the court for the deciding moment of Game 3, the jumper that Pierce hit at the buzzer to give the Celtics a 100-98 win. So he spent Saturday getting his body right, chugging fluids, jumping into the cold tank, hanging out in the pool with his mother Jolinda, visiting from Chicago.

On Sunday, it showed, never more than down the stretch.

He shot 5 for 6 in the fourth quarter and made all four 3-pointers, all coming in a 5-minute stretch and the last putting Miami up 93-82 with 6:12 remaining.

“I just thought, time to be aggressive,” Wade said. “Very aggressive. So I was shooting all those shots, no matter what was going to happen. And I started to make a couple, so I got hot at the right time. Just wanted to will my team to this victory.”

Of course, it’s never easy for Miami against Boston.

The Celtics were 6-0 against Miami this season, and had won 14 of the last 15 between the clubs since April 2007. And yes, Boston made a big run, getting within 96-92 on a free throw by Allen with 2:36 left.

Then a funny thing happened.

Or, more precisely, three funny things.

Not only did Allen—a 91 percent foul shooter this season—miss the second, he missed two more with 1:50 left, keeping it a two-possession game. And when Dorell Wright missed a jumper with 1:29 left, Beasley swooped in, got the rebound and scored, making it 98-92.

Exhale, Miami. The season will go until at least Tuesday.

Wade will opt to become a free agent after the season, and on the slim chance that this was his final home game in Miami, it was nothing short of scintillating.

“He just put it all on his shoulders,” Pierce said. “And did a good job of it.”

Trailing by six entering the final quarter and needing a rally to keep the season alive, Miami opened the fourth on a 25-8 run, fueled mostly by Wade. He hit a pair of 3-pointers about a minute apart, stopping after the second one to scream at his right hand, giving Miami an 85-80 lead.

“When his back is against the wall,” Spoelstra said, “it’s an utter defiance.”

Miami played that way pretty much all day.

Garnett scored the opening basket, only to have Miami reel off the next 12 points. Richardson made his first four shots, three of them from 3-point range, staking Miami to a 15-5 lead.

Wade scored 14 in the first, Richardson ended up with 13, and the Heat seemed well on their way, up 31-14 late in the opening quarter.

That duo combined for two in the second quarter, though, and Boston began chipping away.

Thanks in large part to Glen Davis tripping over his own feet and tumbling to the court in a green heap, Beasley had an alley-oop dunk with 8 minutes left until halftime, putting Miami up 42-24.

The rest of the half was all Boston, which quickly turned the arena mood from celebratory to concerned. The Celtics outscored Miami 19-7 to close the second quarter, with the Heat making six turnovers and missing eight of their next nine shots after the Beasley dunk, and the lead was down to only 49-43 at the break.

“They played how they were supposed to play,” Allen said.

In the third, Wade did the spectacular. Boston did the steady, which worked better.

Wade drove past Allen down the middle of the lane, dunked over the outstretched arm of Garnett and walked into the second row of seats, tying the game at 64 as the crowd roared.

But Garnett, Pierce, Allen and Rondo all had big baskets late in the third, and the Celtics took a 77-71 edge into the final 12 minutes.

But the fourth, thanks to Wade, was all Miami.

“I’m a rhythm player,” Wade said. “And once I get in that rhythm, I think I can make any shot.”

Each Heat player had a sheet of paper at his locker when he arrived Sunday, the words “Easy vs. Hard” typed across the top.

“Making everyone go to Boston,” the sheet said, “is hard.”

And it was.

Getting the Celtics to fly back to Miami will be even tougher.

vs(From the Associated Press) - LeBron James insisted there was nothing unusual about the shot, that he’s perfectly comfortable taking it.

Never mind that he unleashed it from nearly halfcourt.

James’ jumper—from a spot that requires a heave for many players—was just part of the show on a day when he delivered his fifth career postseason triple-double with 37 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists. That led the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 121-98 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday and a 3-1 lead in their first-round series.

“I’ve done some great things in the past, I’ll do some great things in the future,” he said. “But we’re in the present now, and I’m feeling pretty good.”

The Cavaliers led by 10 at halftime after scoring 38 in the second quarter and broke it open with a 37-point third, putting them in position to close it out at home on Tuesday.

James was at it again after scoring 40 and 39 the previous two games, connecting whenever he wanted and from wherever he wanted. He was 6 of 9 on 3-pointers, including a jumper from just inside midcourt at the end of the third that made it 99-76.

“I can comfortably shoot that shot,” James said. “It was a regular jump shot for me. Comfortably, I can walk and dribble into a halfcourt 3.”

James certainly made it look easy against the Bulls.

“He was extremely active all over the place,” coach Mike Brown said. “He really set the tone defensively. He was terrific for us on the weakside. He was great for us on the ball, and he talked defense the whole game.”

He had plenty of help from Antawn Jamison, who scored 12 of his 24 in the third quarter, not to mention Mo Williams (19 points).

Chicago got 21 apiece from Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, who also pulled down 20 rebounds, but the Bulls settled for jump shots once they fell behind. Now, they are on the verge of their second straight first-round exit after a thorough beating by the Eastern Conference’s top seed.

“I just think we weren’t very tough mentally today,” Noah said. “We were playing good ball and then just collapsed. We’re a young team and have to learn from this.”

The Cavaliers were simply locked in after a two-point loss in Game 3. They shot 53 percent and outscored Chicago 40-34 in the paint after being dominated there 94-70 the previous two games.

The Bulls were leading 43-40 after Luol Deng hit a 17-footer with just over five minutes left in the half. Then, Cleveland took over.

“When we had the lead, we should have run some more effective plays, run some pick-and-rolls and attacked the basket,” Rose said. “And even if you couldn’t make the shot, you could dump it off to a big and maybe they could get to the line.”

James scored nine as the Cavaliers ended the half on a 22-9 run, hitting a 3-pointer that put Cleveland ahead 47-45 with 3:36 left, and they continued to build on it.

James nailed a 22-foot fadeaway from up top just before the halftime buzzer, right after a short bank shot by Rose, to make it 62-52. Cleveland quickly put it away after returning from the locker room, scoring the first seven of the third, with James’ floater making it 69-52. But it was his shot at the end of the quarter that left everyone else in awe.

“Seeing him do that is always fun to watch,” Williams said. “It takes a lot out of a team. We’re already up 20 and he’s hitting shots like that. You just sit back like an opponent and wonder what can we do.”

If the Bulls are demoralized, they weren’t about to let on.

“I know that we have to play another game,” Rose said. “My confidence level is high and my team will follow me.”

NBA Playoffs Results

vs(From the Associated Press) - The first order of business after Game 3 for Doc Rivers was making a plea to his Boston Celtics, begging them to not fixate on finishing off a first-round sweep.

Good luck, Doc.
These Celtics have everything going their way against the Miami Heat—and a big chunk of rest before the second round starts might be Boston’s just reward.

Paul Pierce’s 21-footer at the buzzer Friday night gave Boston a 100-98 win over Miami in Game 3 of the teams’ Eastern Conference first-round series. The Celtics lead 3-0, and will try for a sweep in Miami on Sunday afternoon.

“We’re going to be a team that’s tough to beat four times,” Pierce said. “But it’s very demoralizing, I think, for the other team when you go down 3-0.”

There’s an understatement.

No team in NBA history has rallied from a 0-3 deficit in a series, and the hole the Heat are in looks even deeper than that. Miami is 0-6 against Boston this season and 1-14 since April 2007.

But as far as looking ahead to the second round, Rivers is understandably leery.

“I’m not worried about that,” he said. “We’ve just got to keep playing. I told our guys, I don’t want to hear about that. I told them right after the game, we’ve got to focus on basketball. All the other stuff, you focus on the process and the results will happen. Whatever happens out there, it happens. We’ve got to get our job done.”

Pierce got it done Friday.

Game tied at 98, less than 20 seconds left, the Heat had exactly what it wanted—the ball in Dwyane Wade’s hands. The 2006 NBA finals MVP tried a straightaway 3-pointer and missed with 14 seconds left, which is where the game and perhaps the season slipped away from Miami.

Wade crumpled to the court in a heap, his left calf cramping for the second time in the final quarter. He had to be carried back to the Miami bench by Heat reserve center Jamaal Magloire and trainer Jay Sabol, and the Heat huddled together to figure out what to do.

There was no such conversation 60 feet away in the Boston huddle.

Pierce demanded the ball. Rivers agreed. Pierce dribbled the clock down, took the shot over Heat forward Dorell Wright, and the Celtics stormed Miami’s floor in celebration.

“Great player made a great shot,” Wade said. “I couldn’t really see it too much. But I did see the ball go in the basket.”

Pierce finished with 32 points and Ray Allen added 25 for the Celtics, who got 17 from Rajon Rondo and 16 from Kevin Garnett.

Wade finished with 34 points, eight assists and five rebounds for the Heat, who rallied from a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter to take the lead. Michael Beasley scored 16 points, Wright scored 15 and Udonis Haslem and Mario Chalmers each scored 10 for the Heat.

“We’ve just got to go out there Sunday and give them another fight,” Wright said. “That was definitely a backbreaker, right there.”

That long-awaited offseason of 2010, when the Heat are expected to revamp their roster, is closer than Miami ever expected.

“It hasn’t really set in yet,” Wade said. “Down 3-0 hurts. This team’s good. They’ve got a lot of veteran guys who step up to the billing.”

Especially on the road, which is where Boston has excelled all season.

The Celtics were the only playoff team this year to win more games on the road than at home, and they’ve had a flair for drama in Miami. Back on Jan. 6, Rondo caught a lob from Pierce and laid in a buzzer-beater to force overtime, and the Celtics went on to a 112-106 win.

That one hurt Miami plenty. This one was considerably worse.

“We certainly fought the fight in terms of bringing the appropriate level of intensity to the game,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “That was there. Couldn’t ask for much more in terms of effort plays and just bringing the fight.”

Pierce said after the game that the value of rest, especially for a veteran team like Boston, cannot be understated.

Still, Rivers’ words resonated with some Celtics after the game. They know Sunday probably won’t be a cakewalk.

“The job is never really done until we close it out,” Allen said. “You can’t worry about their mental state. … As a team we need to worry about what we’re doing here in the locker room.”

That being said, Boston’s confidence probably hasn’t been higher all season, and a team two years removed from a championship is starting to get that playoff feeling again.

“It’s coming at the right time,” center Kendrick Perkins said.

NBA Playoffs Results

vs(From the Associated Press) - High-flying Josh Smith dominated on the inside. Joe Johnson stepped up from the outside when the Hawks needed him.

The result: Atlanta has a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven series for the first time in 40 years.

Johnson took control in the fourth quarter to finish off a 27-point effort, Smith finished one assist shy of a triple-double and the Hawks ran away from the pesky but outmanned Milwaukee Bucks for a 96-86 victory in the Eastern Conference playoffs Tuesday night.

Smith played as though he’s still upset about being snubbed for the All-Star game, when teammates Johnson and Al Horford were selected but he stayed home. He’s certainly a player capable of taking control of a series in many ways, as he demonstrated with his 21 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists, not to mention two blocks and two steals.

“There’s nothing he can’t do on the floor,” Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. “We just have to keep him playing at a high level, keep his head in the game and we’ll be just fine.”

That applies to the team as a whole. Woodson was mindful of last season, when Atlanta blew out Miami in its playoff opener—then lost at home and had to go the full seven games.

This time, the Hawks took care of business on their home court. They’ll head to Milwaukee on Saturday night with a commanding lead, the first time they’ve won the first two in a best-of-seven series since the Western Division semifinals in 1970. That team went on to beat Chicago in five games, but lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the division finals.

The current Hawks aren’t taking anything for granted, even though they’ve seemed capable of pulling away any time Milwaukee tries to make a run.

“We’re on edge,” said Horford, who teamed with Smith to give the Hawks a big edge in the lane. “We can’t take them lightly. We know it’s going to be tough up there.”

Again, the Hawks’ balance and size advantage on the inside were just too much for the Bucks, who knew they’d face a huge challenge in this series after 7-foot center Andrew Bogut took a hard fall late in the regular season and was done for the playoffs.

All five Atlanta starters reached double figures for the second game in a row, and the two guys on the inside sure took advantage of Bogut’s absence.

Smith had the crowd on its feet with four thunderous dunks and a couple more above-the-rim lay-ins. Horford was nearly as dominant, scoring 20 points, snatching down 10 rebounds and blocking three shots.

“We understand that we’ve got bigger guys down low,” Smith said. “When we miss a shot, we can usually get the putback or pass to a wide-open (Mike) Bibby or Joe. We want to make it easy for those guys.”

When Smith is really on his game, he fires up the home crowd with his gravity defying plays.

“He’s one of those players that can control the game without calling plays for him,” said John Salmons, who led the Bucks with 21 points.

Johnson took over in the fourth quarter. After Milwaukee had closed to single-digit range, he buried four straight jumpers, the last of them a 3-pointer from the corner after snaring a rocket pass from Smith, pushing the Hawks to an 87-74 lead that essentially finished off the Bucks.

“I felt like we were in a drought,” said Johnson, who scored 10 points in the final period and bolstered his all-around effort with six assists, two blocks and a steal. “I just wanted to be aggressive and make plays.”

Johnson also led the defensive effort against Bucks rookie star Brandon Jennings, who followed up a 34-point performance in Game 1 with just nine points on 3-of-15 shooting.

“All season long he’s been playing point guards, so he’s sort of used to it now,” Woodson said. “And Jennings is a tough cover because he is so quick, and he can shoot the outside shot as well as get to the rim.”

The Bucks head home, hoping to turn things around in the next two games. But they’ve led only three times in the series—never by more than two points—for a total of 1 minute, 32 seconds, looking very much like a team making its first playoff appearance since 2006.

“Our preparations have been great, but we’re having trouble taking it onto the game floor,” coach Scott Skiles said. “We knew it would be interesting to see how we would react in this type of environment. They outplayed us in almost every spot up and down the floor. We’ve got three days to get better.”

Ersan Ilyasova came up big off the bench with 13 points and 15 rebounds, but Jerry Stackhouse was the only other Milwaukee player in double figures with 15 points. The Bucks shot only 41 percent (37 of 90).

The Bucks grabbed their first lead of the series, 4-2, on Luc Mbah a Moute’s putback less than 1 1/2 minutes into the game. But Atlanta looked like it was headed for another first-half blitz, pushing out to 22-12 lead on Marvin Williams’ three-point play.

In Game 1, the Hawks led by 20 in the opening quarter and 22 at halftime.

This time, Milwaukee kept it respectable in the early going, ripping off an 8-0 spurt to get right back in the game. But the Hawks scored the final six points of the period in flamboyant fashion. Smith stole the ball in the defensive end and took off, going all the way to the hoop for a thunderous left-handed jam that brought the crowd to its feet.

After Salmons turned it over, the Hawks were running again. Jamal Crawford missed on an attempted slam, but Smith grabbed the rebound and put it back in while stumbling backward with 2 seconds remaining to put Atlanta ahead 28-20.

Milwaukee got off a quick start in the second quarter, starting with a 12-2 run that gave the visiting team another brief lead, 32-30. Again, the Hawks quickly reclaimed the upper hand, scoring the next six points and leading the rest of the period—though never by more than seven. Johnson finished off the half with a driving layup that sent Atlanta to the locker room with a 52-46 lead.

vs(From the Associated Press) - Even without Kevin Garnett, the Boston Celtics beat the Miami Heat.

Easily.

With the good-humored but hard-playing Glen Davis filling in while the Celtics’ emotional leader served a one-game suspension, Boston rolled to a 106-77 victory Tuesday night that Miami coach Erik Spoelstra called “embarrassing.”

It gave the Celtics a 2-0 lead in their playoff series and Davis a chance to reprise the nickname he hung on himself last year when he replaced the injured Garnett—known as the “Big Ticket”—in all 14 playoff games.

“The `Ticket Stub’ came,” Davis said. “Whenever they need the `Ticket Stub,’ he’ll be there.”

Davis had 23 points and eight rebounds, and Ray Allen heated up in the third quarter and scored 25 points. Dwyane Wade led the Heat with 29.

With Garnett serving a suspension for elbowing Quentin Richardson in Game 1, Davis started and went aggressively to the basket to grab missed shots and draw fouls.

“That’s a case of one man impacting the game simply with his effort. I don’t think they ran one play for him,” Spoelstra said. “You cannot let a man’s effort exceed yours. It’s as simple as that.”

The Heat took a 29-25 lead on a dunk by Jermaine O’Neal. But the Celtics used a 44-8 surge over the next 16 1/2 minutes to go ahead 69-37 with 5:38 left in the third quarter, capped by one of Allen’s five 3-pointers in the period.

“Once the ball started moving and we started getting multiple stops, we were off and running,” Boston coach Doc Rivers said.

The Celtics led by 25 to 33 points the rest of the way.

“Once we opened up Glen Davis (offensively), I thought they started to sink in a little bit more and it opened up Ray,” Paul Pierce said.

Game 3 is Friday night in Miami.

“This is an embarrassing loss,” Spoelstra said. “It is one loss. It is not four losses and what we can control right now is getting our minds right and taking care of the most important game on Friday.”

Tempers stayed under control throughout the game, just three days after a skirmish with 40 seconds left in Boston’s 85-76 victory led to Garnett’s suspension without pay and Richardson’s $25,000 fine. Garnett was hovering over Pierce, who had fallen near the Miami bench after hurting his shoulder.

Garnett held off Richardson as he came up from behind. They then exchanged words before the elbow hit the Heat forward in the face.

Garnett wasn’t allowed in TD Garden, but made a prerecorded appearance on the scoreboard above midcourt during a timeout after the Celtics scored 19 straight points to take a 44-29 lead with 2:56 left in the first half.

He encouraged the fans and when the scoreboard followed with a “Let’s Get Loud” message, they raised their voices.

Richardson was booed almost every time he touched the ball.

“We didn’t think that because Kevin was out it was going to be a walk in the park,” Miami’s Udonis Haslem said.

In the opener, the Heat led 61-47 with 7:03 left in the third quarter. Then Boston outscored them 34-10 to go ahead 81-71 with 1:46 to go in the game.

The Celtics started their spurt a lot earlier Tuesday.

“The first game, I thought we gave it away,” Wade said. “This time they took it. I thought they wanted it more than us.”

Trailing by four after O’Neal’s dunk with 10:10 left in the second quarter, Boston got started on a 3-pointer by Michael Finley. It took the lead for good on a 3-pointer by Allen.

Then rarely used Shelden Williams, substituting for Davis, hit a field goal. Davis made two straight baskets, Allen connected on another 3-pointer, Pierce sank two free throws and Allen got a layup. Davis followed with two free throws, giving the Celtics 21 straight points.

Miami finally broke through on a 21-foot jumper by Michael Beasley. That made it 46-31 with 2:07 left in the half.

The Celtics have won the last three games they played against the Heat without Garnett. And Davis has proven to be a very capable replacement.

When Garnett missed last year’s playoffs with a knee injury, Davis averaged 15.8 points and 5.6 rebounds before losing in the second round.

“When I stepped out there today and I saw the lineup, I was like, `This is the same lineup we had going into the playoffs last year that pushed Orlando to seven games with Glen out there,”’ Pierce said. “We all know what he’s capable of.”

Garnett had planned to watch the game at the home of team president Danny Ainge.

“I am the `Ticket Stub’ so I kind of know what (Garnett) wanted to happen tonight,” Davis said. “He told me before the game to make sure that I do what I had to do and be physical, be ferocious, and anything is possible.”

NBA Playoffs Results

vs(From the Associated Press) - They’ve got more depth. They’ve got more size. They’ve got Shaq. And, of course, they’ve still got LeBron James.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have a different look this postseason.

“We,” James said, “have the look of a champion.”

Completely healthy and well rested, the Cavaliers took their first step toward an NBA title on Saturday as James scored 24 points and Shaquille O’Neal looked and played 10 years younger in a 96-83 victory over the Chicago Bulls in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference series.

O’Neal, playing for the first time since tearing a thumb ligament on Feb. 25, had 12 points, five rebounds, four assists and three blocks in 24 minutes as the top-seeded Cavs won a testy opener between two teams that obviously don’t care for each other.

“I have no friends in that locker room, except for Danny Green,” said Chicago’s Joakim Noah, who was plagued by foul trouble and booed for much of the game by Cleveland fans. “I don’t really know nobody on that team and I don’t really care. I just want to win.”

The Bulls, who trimmed a 22-point deficit to seven in the fourth quarter before wearing down, will get a chance to even the best-of-seven series Monday night in Cleveland.

Derrick Rose had 28 points and 10 assists for Chicago, which had the misfortune of being the first team to face the Cavs in these playoffs. Cleveland has been rebuilt for a championship, adding starters O’Neal, Antawn Jamison and Anthony Parker to a team that made it to the Eastern Conference finals last year.

After they were eliminated last May by Orlando, the Cavaliers went out and traded for O’Neal, a four-time NBA champion and icon. O’Neal was brought in not only to combat Magic center Dwight Howard but to help James win his first title and deliver Cleveland its first in any major pro sport since 1964.

The Cavs need 15 more wins to get it.

“Everyone knows it’s the first team to 16 wins,” O’Neal said.

Leading 68-46, the Cavs were coasting to an easy win when the Bulls, who have been in playoff mode for the past two weeks as they fought for the No. 8 seed, stormed back. They scored 12 straight and were still within striking distance, down 73-60 entering the fourth.

Chicago cut it to 82-75 on Brad Miller’s basket, but James converted a three-point play with 2:29 left and Mo Williams followed with a 3-pointer to put Cleveland up 94-81.

The comeback may have fallen short, but it gave the Bulls confidence for Game 2.

“We can’t wait to play,” Rose said. “I know I can’t. This is something I live for. I think about it every minute of the day, playing against the best team in the NBA.”

Williams added 19 points and 10 assists, and Jamison, acquired at the trading deadline from Washington, had 15 points and 10 rebounds. Cleveland blocked 12 shots—10 in the second half.

James was his usual MVP self, making plays at both ends. But unlike past postseasons, he doesn’t have to do it alone this time.

O’Neal, who upon arriving in Cleveland promised to “win a ring for the King,” looked remarkably sharp despite missing the Cavs’ final 23 games after undergoing surgery to fix his thumb. He dropped 20 pounds while he was sidelined by watching his diet and swimming.

“This is very vital for me, vital for everybody,” he said. “I wanted to come back extra, extra ready. This is the time we have to be ready.”

Cleveland’s offense ran smoothly while O’Neal was in the middle and he had the game’s signature play early in the third quarter.

Posting up Noah in the foul lane, the 7-foot-1 O’Neal made a quick spin move toward the baseline that faked out the Bulls center, who stumbled forward and nearly fell on his face. O’Neal then delivered a dunk and sprinted back down the floor scowling.

“That’s the patented move I’ve been doing for years,” the 38-year-old O’Neal said. “That’s the ‘Diesel Truck with No Brakes.’ When I get into that mood people get out of the way because they know I’m in the cab and I don’t have any brakes.”

Noah became quick road kill.

“I kind of knew he was going to do it at first, so I tried to take it away,” Noah said. “Then he waited and waited until a good time. He just knows how to use that 350 pounds.”

The teams, which split their two regular-season meetings, traded words and shoves on more than one occasion. Noah, who said the Bulls would “try to shock the world” in the series, got into it with Anderson Varejao. James and Brad Miller were assessed technicals in the first half following a collision, and James and Luol Deng had a discussion after the halftime horn.

Miller had to get medical treatment after taking an elbow from O’Neal, who was playing in his 204th postseason game.

“Just taking an elbow to the damn chin and bleeding,” Miller said. “My foul.”

James, who sat out Cleveland’s final four regular-season games to rest for the playoffs, was on the floor more than three hours before tip getting in some extra work. He’s waited almost one year to spit out the bitterness of coming up short last year and isn’t taking any chances.

Before the game, he conveyed that to his teammates.

“I told them, this is what have all waited for,” he said. “This is why we play hard throughout the regular season and throughout practices—to get to this point. As much as we loved the regular season, we love the postseason even more.”

vs(From the Associated Press) - For one magnificent half, the Atlanta Hawks did nearly everything right. They made shots. They blocked shots. They dunked and defended and did their best to run Milwaukee out of the building.

One half was all they needed Saturday to get off to a good start in the playoffs.

Led by Joe Johnson and getting production from all their key players, the Hawks blitzed the Bucks before halftime, survived a lackluster showing over the final two quarters and held off Milwaukee 102-92 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference series.

“We probably played as good in the first half as we’ve played all year,” Atlanta coach Mike Woodson said. “We jumped them right away.”

The Hawks had mismatches all over the court, taking advantage of the gruesome injury that took out Bucks center Andrew Bogut two weeks ago. The home team never trailed, building a 20-point lead in the first quarter and going to halftime with a 62-40 edge.

Milwaukee made a game of it led by Brandon Jennings, who scored 34 points in his playoff debut. But the rookie didn’t have nearly enough help against the No. 3-seeded Hawks, making their third straight playoff appearance and hoping to break up the expected Cleveland-Orlando duel in the Eastern Conference.

Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is Tuesday night in Atlanta.

“When you get ahead by so much, you kind of get lackadaisical,” Hawks guard Mike Bibby said. “Basketball is a game of runs. They made a run at us. The main thing is: We withstood it.”

The short-handed Bucks were making their first playoff appearance since 2006, and that inexperience showed even though Jennings tried to take matters into his own hands. He took 25 shots, making 14 of them, and accounted for more than third of his team’s points.

“Not having Andrew Bogut, I have to go back to playing the way I was at the beginning of the season,” Jennings said. “I have to be more aggressive if we’re going to have any chance to win.”

It’s going to be tough for one man to beat the Hawks, who have a balanced lineup and perhaps the best sixth man in the league, Jamal Crawford. Johnson scored 22 points, Mike Bibby added 19 and the other Atlanta starters also were in double figures. Crawford put up 17 points in the first postseason appearance of his 10-year career.

By comparison, only two other Milwaukee players joined Jennings with double-digit scoring.

Even though Crawford looked a bit nervous after waiting so long to experience the playoffs, he hit three big shots from beyond the 3-point arc.

“It felt really good,” said Crawford, who was bothered by a toe injury late in the season but wasn’t going to let anything stand in the way of this moment. “I was excited, nervous, everything. It felt so good to get it out of the way. It felt so good to make my first shot. I even smiled a little bit. I was like, ‘Wow, it’s really here.”’

The Hawks were nearly perfect in the opening quarter, while Milwaukee looked overwhelmed on the postseason stage. Atlanta made 15 of 23 shots, controlled the boards, blocked three shots and didn’t commit a turnover. The Bucks went 7 of 21 from the field, turned it over four times and appeared totally incapable of stopping Atlanta’s myriad weapons.

Al Horford and Josh Smith both scored eight points in the opening period, and the Hawks made it 32-12 on Crawford’s free throw in the final minute of the quarter before settling for a 34-17 lead. They stretched out the margin as high as 23 points in the first half, shooting an astonishing 62 percent (26 of 42) from the field.

“The first half, we were a little shell-shocked,” Bucks coach Scott Skiles said. “In the second half, we competed harder. We settled down a little bit. In the second half, we played more like ourselves.”

The Bucks made a game of it in the second half, taking advantage of the sleepwalking Hawks to cut the gap to 77-70 late in the third—the closest Milwaukee had been since the opening minutes. But Mike Bibby hit a big 3-pointer from the corner and Atlanta took an 81-70 lead to the final quarter.

Jennings and Ersan Ilyasova both had 3-point attempts that could have cut it to five points late in the game, but neither connected. The Hawks iced it from there as Johnson hit a big jumper with Luc Mbah a Moute right in his face.

“Hey, the first wins are always the toughest ones,” Woodson said.

The Bucks knew the odds were against them. They lost Michael Redd in January to a knee injury, but the biggest blow came with less than two weeks to go in the regular season when Bogut wrenched his right arm in a gruesome tumble to the court, finishing him for the season.

With Bogut out, Jennings was basically a one-man team. He had 20 of Milwaukee’s 40 points in the first half, and reached 30 points with more than six minutes left in the third quarter—before any of his teammates had even reached double figures.

The lightning-quick rookie was the one player who caused matchup problems for the Hawks, easily beating his man off the dribble no matter who the Hawks threw at him—everyone from 6-2 rookie Jeff Teague to 6-foot-10 center Al Horford.

“I’m going to play above my head the whole series,” Jennings said. “There’s no pressure on us.”

The Season's Best Buzzer-Beater So Far in the One Game I Really Wish I'd Seen

By now, you've probably already heard about the Pierce-to-Rondo lob pass in the Celtics win at Miami last Wednesday. If you haven't, here's the gist:

After a game that saw each team making runs and alternating leads throughout, Dwyane Wade made a pair of free throws that evened out the game at 99 apiece with 5.5 seconds left. Enough time for the C's to score, and not too much pressure because if they failed to score, the game would go into overtime, right? Er, not really. In a mix of some tough luck for the C's and the greatness of Wade, with 5 seconds left, Ray Allen trips after receiving an inbounds pass, and Wade steals and dunks, to put the Heat up 101-99. Time left? 0.6 seconds.

But, no, that's not the buzzer beater I refer to. This is: a spectacular Pierce-Rondo alley-oop that ties the game and sends it into overtime. I could try to describe it, but really, you should just watch it.

And then, after you watch it and are blown away by it, here are a few related links you may want to check out:

1. An interview with Doc Rivers about the play (among other things).

2. A breakdown of the play using video stills.

3. Another breakdown of the play, this time using X's and O's.

I love the NBA.