Last year, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh were three of the best players in the NBA.

For most of the night, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo were the three best players on the court at the TD Garden as the Boston Celtics beat the visiting Miami Heat, 88-80.

The Celtics got out to an early lead, thanks to some extremely stingy defense.  Boston held Miami to nine points in the opening quarter, and outscored them by 15 in the first half.  Neither team lit it up offensively, but the C’s were able to hit some timely triples.  Allen (20 points, 5 treys) and Pierce (19 points, 3 treys) had strong shooting strokes throughout the game.  Boston’s floor leader, Rajon Rondo controlled the tempo with 17 assists.

Boston’s new addition, Shaquille O’Neal, gave the home team a huge lift to start the contest.  Shaq was active early around the basket, and ended with 9 points and 7 rebounds. 

LeBron James' tenure with the Miami Heat began with a loss.

As for the Heat, the Big Three didn’t show up…but the Big One did.  LeBron James (31 points) had to be wondering if he was playing in South Beach, or if he was playing in Cleveland.  Once again, King James was a one-man army against the Celtics.  The Heat looked extremely ineffective when James wasn’t assuming command of the action.  Since this was the opening game, some discontinuity could be expected for Miami – having a cast of players who haven’t played together during games that actually count.  But the talent of Wade (4-16 FG, 13 points) and Bosh (3-11 FG, 8 points) never showed up and, despite a late run to put Miami within three, the Heat never had a real chance in this one.

It was just one game, but it proves that nothing can be handed to the Heat.  Boston is at the top of the NBA in the execution of their team defense, therefore, we can count on better offensive efficiency from Miami.  But against teams that play strong defense, Erik Spoelstra will be required to be creative with the spacing and gameplan employed by his team. 

Although fans might be slightly shocked, tonight’s outcome proved one thing that we already knew: Miami has a great roster. 

But Boston has a great team.

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