LeBron and Wade: Celtics set blueprint for Big Three

Posted by Mike Salvucci on May 10, 2011 2046121 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F2011%2F05%2F10%2Flebron-and-wade-celtics-set-blueprint-for-big-three%2FLeBron+and+Wade%3A+Celtics+set+blueprint+for+Big+Three2011-05-11+00%3A20%3A18Mike+Salvuccihttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F%3Fp%3D20461

After leading their team to victory last night, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade took huge steps toward getting the “Boston” monkey off their backs.

Today, the two stars talked about how the Celtics provided much of the motivation for Chris Bosh and themselves to join forces in Miami. ESPN.com’s Kevin Arnovitz had the story.

“They set the blueprint for us when they decided to make the trade for [Kevin Garnett] and for Ray [Allen],” James said. “Seeing guys make sacrifices to come together and play as one. They set the blueprint and went out there and did it. They won a championship. They competed every year.”

Wade, who had lost his previous 11 games in Boston, also echoed those same sentiments.

“With LeBron losing to Boston in Cleveland in the playoffs, he felt like, ‘I gotta do more, I need to be around more to contend for a championship,’ ” Wade said. “Me feeling the same way going into the summer, saying that I needed more, it was because of Boston. They knocked us out.”

Maybe the Celtics set the blueprint for a “Big Three”, but the comparison stops there, in my opinion. The Heat appear destined to win this series for two simple reasons: James and Wade. Most Boston fans were hopeful that the C’s experience would prevail in this series. But last night, we were reminded that talent wins in the NBA.

When James hit that corner 3 to tie the game at 84-84, what could you really say? It was an unbelievable shot. Or what about Wade’s fall-away 3 in overtime? Lucky, perhaps. Or maybe just a big-time shot from a big-time player.

This series isn’t over. But if the Celtics are going to come back, they’re going to need incredible individual performances from just about everyone. Because James and Wade are on another level right now.