Offensive Efficiency:
Boston: 107.7 points/100 possessions (15th)
Miami: 106.6 points/100 possessions (19th)
Defensive Efficiency:
Boston: 103.8 points allowed/100 possessions (5th—lowest ranking of season)
Miami: 104.1 points allowed/100 possessions (T-6th)
We’ve previewed Miami enough at this point. We’ve done a detailed statistical analysis of the Heat and conducted a Q-and-A with a Heat blogger. We know what we’re getting in Miami: A stingy defense, a group that protects the defensive glass and takes care of the ball on offense, and heaping spoonfuls of Dwyane Wade.
You can see from the efficiency stats that these teams were dead even statistically in the regular season. Now we get to see how they match up.
Who guards Wade? How do the C’s defend him? Who checks Rajon? Is Rasheed Wallace awake?
Consider this your open thread. Tell us what you’re seeing, what should be happening that isn’t, what’s going well and what’s going badly.
And, of course: Go Celtics!
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heading to the game soon.
pumped. jacked. hyped.
prediction: Cs win a tight one. full team effort. everyone brings it hard….even sheeeeeeeeed
So we get to watch the Force of Nature that is D-Wade in the playoffs. Let’s hope the only heartbreaking shots he takes tonight are one’s that affect Miami. Unlikely, but we can hope.
What I’m seeing so far today is that the C’s wish they had drawn the Bucks. This Hawks-Bucks game is quickly turning into a circus. I hope the C’s think about this as they’re busy grinding it out with DWade.
rip hamilton to celtics in trade this offseason? we cud have him back up ray if we sign ray again .
Just 1 request Cs. Play D like you did to start the season. Make them hate your defense again.
Scratch that. Jennings is a baller, what a great game for the young rookie.
Oh, god, Tony Allen in already b/c Ray is bleeiding.
Why does our crowd look significantly different than cleveland and atlantas crowds? we look like were sleeping we need to bring the same energy as we want the team to show too ya know
Sheed has looked as awful as I’ve ever seen him in the 1st quarter.
And then he makes an And-1 right as write that.
Let’s see, the game so far…
Same poor rebounding we’ve seen before.
Same laziness of transition D, even though we need that D because…
Same unacceptably high rate of stupid, lazy turnovers.
Same lack of overall focus.
Same frequency of letting guys get close to the rim.
Same old Big Baby thinking he can put in layups under the basket against taller defenders, getting blocked every time.
Same ol’ Sheed. Flagrantly shoves a guy right in front of the ref, then gets T’d up arguing the foul. I wouldn’t want that guy on my team in a pickup game at the Y, never mind on my favorite NBA team. And to think, I was once his biggest advocate in all of Celtics fandom.
Bottom line, I will be more surprised if the Celtics win this series than I would if they got swept. They are not showing me anything right now.
Man I hope I’m wrong, but I haven’t seen a goddamn thing from this team to really give me hope since Christmas. If they had played the first half of the season the way they have the second, they’d be lucky to get the 8 seed. Sure, they SHOULD be able to beat the Heat. On paper. But their ubuntu seems to have succumbed to the malignant cancer that is Rasheed Wallace. I know he’s getting paid a bunch, but if Doc wants his team to have a chance, he needs to tell him to just stay home. Too little too late, probably, but worth a shot.
Turnovers and lack of hustle/rebounding are killing us like they’ve killing us all season. Hope we hang in there though.
. .
The 5-0 run to end the half felt huge.
T.M.T, of course, but nothing new there. Highlight/lowlights include Perk’s two completely unnecessary traveling violations and Rondo trying to thread an impossible pass from the three-point line to Pierce under the hoop. It failed.
I get so uneasy every time Baby touches the ball down low unless he’s hustling for a rebound. This game doesn’t look any different from any regular season games… sigh. Lacking energy on both sides, lazy defense, too many turnovers, getting out-rebounded & hustled…. no bueno!
P.S. — Is there any way to look up Rondo’s shooting percentage for buzzer beaters? For a guy who isn’t close to being a must-guard jump shooter, he sure makes a lot of them when the clock’s winding down.
So was the “extra gear” neutral or reverse?
I can’t believe what I’m seeing. Tony Allen turned the third quarter around on both ends – but especially defending Dwayne Wade. The others picked their game up some, too, but Tony made the difference.
Yup. TA has been huge. Nice knowing you, Marquis.
Like, wow… Could TA have been any more impressive in this game? Okay… Maybe he could have gotten in a dunk contest level dunk. But he took the job of defying nature and ran with it. Something like 17 minutes Wade went without a field goal. Any chance someone can dig up more on the defensive masterpiece TA put on Wade?
Tony Allen is a beastt
Well, I’m happy to eat my words here. Still, I’m far from convinced. These guys have done too much to lose my faith in recent months to get it back with twelve or fifteen minutes of solid play against a mediocre at best Heat squad.
Still, I did enjoy TA tonight. As boneheadedly frustrating as he can all too often be, I just can’t help rooting for the guy. He always plays hard, he knows he’s not a star and seems OK with it.
But. My hopes for the Celtics advancing to the second round are based not so much on the Celtics being good enough as on the Heat NOT being good enough. Play like they played tonight against the Cavs, Magic or Hawks, they lose by ten.
And we’d all better hope KG doesn’t get a one game suspension for that elbow. It didn’t seem like anything that would deserve a suspension, but you never know with David Stern.
Especially if he thinks it would be better for the league if D-Wade got a better chance to shine.
holding Miami to 10 points for the whole 4th quarter? it’s as if they pulled out a celtic-regular-season stinker. but then again, it was more of outstanding defense. at least that switch is on now.
Why does Rasheed never take a charge? I’ve seen two plays where if he tried to take a charge, those points would not have gone in..
1 made 3 pointer, and not one good game among the starters. Ray was particularly off today. Nice to see the defense and bench pick up the slack. If you showed me the starters box score before the game, I doubt I would have watched the game. But nothing wrong with winning ugly.
Not sure what the Celtics take away from this game aside from the win though. They better plan on hitting a few more 3′s and getting some production from the starters eventually.
Headline of the game. Celtics turned up the D and you still beat Miami by 9 despite only 8 points from Ray Allen.