On Thursday night, we witnessed the top seed in each conference make unsuccessful attempts to gain a 3-0 lead in their respective series.  Coming into the playoffs, the Boston Celtics were the higher-seeded team that many were predicting would be upset.

But after Game 3 of the Celtics-Heat first-round series, it’s Dwayne Wade and the Miami Heat who are upset.

Paul Pierce hit a 17-foot fadeaway as the regulation clock expired, giving the Celtics a 100-98 victory to go up three games to one in their best-of-seven series against the Heat.

Here’s Pierce’s description of his crucial shot:

“Ah, well, it’s a shot I’ve hit a number of times..you know, in the playoffs and regular season…I told coach (Rivers) to just give me the ball at the top of the key and give me the right side…I got to my sweet spot, I wanted to make sure there was enough time on the clock and I drained it.”

And Pierce is far from exaggerating.  He’s taken and made that same shot time and time again.  He hit it in last year’s historic playoff series against the Chicago Bulls.  He has always been one of the true masters of the mid-range game.

Allen hit four treys in the Celtics' win.

But Pierce shot was set up by a rather peculiar play from Dwayne Wade.  Wade, who finished the game with 34 points and 8 assists, had the ball in his possession with the game tied at 98.  He dribbled the shot clock down and settled for a three pointer that was contested by Ray Allen.  Wade missed the attempt, and immediately fell down onto the court, grasping at his leg (which he had a trainer massaging during an earlier stoppage of play). 

In those situations, Wade makes a habit of attacking the basket…so it seemed a bit odd that he would play into the hands of the Boston defense.  D-Wade went to the rack early and often, and he was not the beneficiary of the usually high amount of calls that he gets in his favor.  Consequently, after just about every one of his penetrations, Wade could be seen either running back down the court with his hands up or curiously glaring in the direction of a referee.   

Paul Pierce played his most productive game in the 2010 postseason, finishing with 32 points and 8 boards – including 14 points in the final, decisive quarter.  Shooting guard Ray Allen also had a good performance, contributing 25 points on 16 field goal attempts.  Rajon Rondo had 17 points and Kevin Garnett returned from his one-game suspension to add 16 points for the winners.

Wade received help from Michael Beasley (16 points, 8 in the fourth quarter) and Dorell Wright (15 points and 5 assists).  Veteran Udonis Haslem and Lionel Chalmers added 10 points for the Heat.