Boston cuts Miami’s series advantage to 2-1
BOSTON – Kevin Garnett went hard to the court when he was fouled underneath the basket. He remained on his back, motionless, as his teammates rushed over to check on him and offer a hand to help him up.
The Boston Celtics center ignored them, instead gingerly rolling over onto his stomach before extending his arms to ease himself up off the court. Down and up he went, pushing off the floor on his knuckles eight times for some postseason pushups.
For the first time in the Eastern Conference finals, Boston was having fun with the Miami Heat.
“K.G. plays a lot of mental games with himself – and with others,” Celtics guard Keyon Dooling said Friday night after Boston beat the Heat 101-91 to cut Miami’s lead in the best-of-7 series to 2-1. “K.G. is a very focused individual and he loves these kind of moments.”
Garnett had 24 points and 11 rebounds, Paul Pierce scored 23 points and Rajon Rondo had 21 points with 10 assists to help the Celtics avoid falling into a 3-0 hole in the series.
Game 4 is Sunday night in Boston.
“They defended their home court,” Rondo said. “In a couple of days, we’ll do the same.”
LeBron James scored 34 points, but the NBA MVP and the rest of the Heat went cold during a 7-minute stretch at the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the second, when Boston outscored them 15-0 to turn a six-point deficit into a nine-point lead.
The Celtics extended it to 24 points early in the fourth quarter before Miami came back and cut it to 95-87 with help from three 3-pointers by Mike Miller. But James had a turnover and missed a 3-pointer in the last 2 minutes to squelch the Heat’s hope of a comeback.
“You’re trying to fight back the whole time,” said James, who scored 16 points in the first quarter but just four with one rebound and one assist in the fourth. “We made a run but it was too much.”
Miami still trailed by eight points with the ball when Dwyane Wade missed and Ray Allen grabbed the rebound, sending Rondo on a fastbreak that made it 99-89 with 99 seconds to play. James threw the ball away underneath, then missed a 3-point attempt the next time down – one of only four shots he took in the fourth quarter.
Pierce found Garnett for a long jumper at the other end, and the teams began emptying their benches.
Coming off his 44-point effort in the Game 2 loss in Miami, in which he played every second of regulation and overtime, Rondo was 9 for 16 from the field.