Times wires
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
MIAMI — LeBron James walked toward Mario Chalmers in the final minute with a content look.
He punched his teammate twice in the chest. Fitting, because James and the Miami Heat have now landed two blows against the Celtics.
James had 24 of his 35 points in the second half, Dwyane Wade scored 28 and the Heat used a late 14-0 run Tuesday to pull away and beat the Celtics 102-91 in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
"Now the mental discipline begins," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "This thing is just getting started."
Chris Bosh had with 17 points and 11 rebounds for Miami, which leads the best-of-seven 2-0.
Boston tied the score at 80 on a pair of free throws by Paul Pierce with 7:10 left. The Celtics missed their next six shots and Miami pulled away, taking command of both the game and the series.
"That's our staple. We know the only way for us to win games, especially in the playoffs, is to play defense," James said. "Everyone has each other's back. If one guy gets beat, another steps up. They made a run, a heck of a run … but we just kept grinding, kept playing our principles, and we finally wore them down."
Rajon Rondo played through a balky back to score 20 points and add 12 assists for Boston, which got 16 points from Kevin Garnett and 13 from Pierce. The Celtics have only rallied from an 0-2 deficit in a best-of-seven series once.
Jeff Green scored 11 and Delonte West added 10 for the Celtics, who got only seven from Ray Allen on 2 for 7 shooting.
Even for a franchise with such fabled history as the Celtics, an 0-2 deficit represents a colossal challenge.
This is the ninth time Boston has dropped the first two games in a best-of-seven series. The only time the Celtics won was against the Lakers in the 1969 Finals.
"Nothing we can do about it," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "We've got a third game and we've got to take care of that. Whatever the past is, it is. They've won two games at home. But we can't allow them to play like this, or it's going to be tough at our place."
To win this series, Boston will need to prevail four times in a five-game span — which it did in the first round against Miami last year, then again in the second round vs. James and the Cavaliers in the East semis.
"This is a great team we are going against right now," James said.
Celtics center Shaquille O'Neal (calf) sat out after scrimmaging in practice on Monday.
Heat 102, Celtics 91
BOSTON (91): Pierce 5-11 2-2 13, Garnett 8-20 0-0 16, J.O'Neal 2-7 4-5 8, Rondo 7-16 6-8 20, Allen 2-7 2-2 7, Davis 2-7 2-3 6, Green 4-6 1-2 11, Krstic 0-1 0-0 0, West 4-4 0-0 10, Wafer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 34-79 17-22 91.
MIAMI (102): James 14-25 5-8 35, Bosh 5-10 7-11 17, Ilgauskas 1-5 0-0 2, Bibby 3-6 0-0 8, Wade 8-20 11-13 28, Anthony 1-2 4-4 6, Jones 0-1 0-0 0, Miller 1-1 0-0 3, Chalmers 1-5 0-0 3. Totals 34-75 27-36 102.
Boston 26 16 25 24— 91
Miami 27 20 25 30— 102
3-Point Goals—Boston 6-11 (West 2-2, Green 2-2, Allen 1-2, Pierce 1-4, Rondo 0-1), Miami 7-16 (Bibby 2-4, James 2-4, Miller 1-1, Wade 1-3, Chalmers 1-4). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Boston 49 (J.O'Neal 9), Miami 51 (Bosh 11). Assists—Boston 18 (Rondo 12), Miami 15 (Bosh 4). Total Fouls—Boston 24, Miami 22. Technicals—Boston Coach Rivers. A—20,104 (19,600).
Late Monday: Mavs rally to stun Lakers
When Kobe Bryant drained a 3-pointer to put the Lakers up by 16 points in the second half Monday, nobody would have been surprised if the Mavericks packed it in. After all, these perennial underachievers aren't exactly known for their playoff tenacity.
But their stirring comeback against the two-time defending champions showed that Dirk Nowitzki and his Mavs just might be capable of creating whole new reputations this spring.
Nowitzki scored 28 and hit two go-ahead free throws with 19.5 seconds left, Jason Kidd forced a crucial turnover moments later, and the Mavericks escaped with a 96-94 victory in Game 1 when Bryant missed two late chances to steal it back for the host Lakers.
Jason Terry scored 15 and Nowitzki had 14 rebounds for the Mavericks, who erased that huge third-quarter deficit before the dramatic finish to open the perennial playoff teams' first postseason meeting in 23 years.
The Mavericks trailed 92-87 with 3:32 to play, but finished on a 9-2 run.
"I thought we did a great job hanging in there," Nowitzki said. "It wasn't looking good, but we talked about in the huddle. Just stick with it, try to get some stops, don't turn the ball over, and get a shot up every time. Just at least give ourselves a chance to make it."
ROOKIE HONOR: The Associated Press reported that Clippers forward Blake Griffin will be named Rookie of the Year today. A formal announcement from the league isn't due until today but the team announced a news conference at its training complex for the presentation of a major award, and Rookie of the Year is the only one left.