Trailing 66-64 entering the 4th quarter, we were all curiously watching the Miami-Boston opening-round game. 

The big story on the Celtics all season was whether they really could turn it on for the playoffs – or if Father Time had caught up with them.

In a hotly contested game last night, the Celtics showed the heart of a champion.

Giving an effort reminiscent of their 2007-2008 championship team, the Celtics played smothering defense and shut down the Miami Heat in the final quarter.  Boston outscored Miami 21-10 in the fourth, enabling the veterans to pull out a 85-76 win.  The Heat committed 22 turnovers – including 11 steals by the Celtics.  Dwayne Wade , who led the Heat with 26-8-6, was the main culprit with seven turnovers.

Boston’s offensive effort was led by Paul Pierce (16 points) and Kevin Garnett (15 points).  The Celtics got a huge contribution from Tony Allen (14 points) and All-Star Rajon Rondo had a double-double with 10 points and 10 assists (and seven rebounds).

Dwayne Wade needs to cut down on his turnovers if the Heat want to emerge victorious in Game 2.

The response from the Heat will be critical.  They held a double digit lead during Game 1, but were unable to come away with the win.  The turnabout in the fourth quarter shifted the momentum to Boston, and the Heat blew an opportunity to get a road win that they’ll need in they plan on moving past this series.

Wade was certainly feeling the pressure to do everything in Game 1.  He shot well from the field (11-18) and demonstrated his usual do-it-all performance, but two things need to happen for the Heat to emerge victorious:

- Wade needs to be more efficient and limti his turnovers

- The Heat need more contributors on offense

We’ve already highlighted Wade’s turnovers, but Jermaine O’Neal and Michael Beasley combining for 14 points on 6-22 shooting from the field is simply not going to get the job done.  These guys are options #2 and #3, and they barely combined to score half of the points that their #1 scorer put on the board.

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