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| Will Paul Pierce (top) and Kevin Garnett have enough to keep up with LeBron James? (US Presswire) |
MIAMI -- The Miami Heat are halfway home in the Eastern Conference finals, protecting homecourt in Games 1 and 2 this week to head up to Boston with a 2-0 series lead over the Celtics.
In many ways, the two games couldn't have been more different. In Game 1, the perimeter floodgates were open for the Heat on offense, as LeBron James and Dwyane Wade scored fairly easily and hit the highlight tape on multiple occasions. Game 2, although higher scoring, was much more of a slugfest, with the All-Star duo mostly doing their damage at the free throw line. For Boston, Game 1 saw a dearth of offense and a bunch of question marks on defense, while Game 2 saw an historic night from Rajon Rondo and some extra defensive aggressiveness that combined to solve most of their Game 1 problems. Unfortunately, some tough calls, foul trouble and a lack of depth combined to leave the Celtics just short of stealing one on the road in overtime.
Here are a few numbers to keep an eye on as the Heat and the Celtics prepare for Game 3 on Friday night at TD Garden.
1. Ridiculous Rajon Rondo
Before we get to some numbers that might be cause for concern for the Celtics, let's take a moment to pause and appreciate the majesty of Rondo's Game 2 line: 53 minutes, 44 points, 8 rebounds, 10 assists and 3 steals. on 16-for-24 shooting. That combination of points, rebounds and assists hasn't been done in the playoffs before. Ever. When you're all by yourself in NBA history, that's the definition of elite company.
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That he didn't rest a second during the game, playing straight through from tip to buzzer, makes his effort that much more memorable.
"Rondo was unbelievable," Heat forward Shane Battier gushed. "That's one of the best games I've seen in person."
"Rondo was absolutely amazing," James added. "The performance he put on tonight will go down in the record books."
2. Celtics starters carry heavy load
Boston's starters played a whopping 213 combined minutes out of 265 during Game 2's overtime loss. Boston's starters were on the court for 80.4 percent of the game.
Miami started Ronny Turiaf and played him just four minutes, so the Heat's percentage was obviously much lower. But if you take Miami's other four starters (James, Dwyane Wade, Battier, Mario Chalmers) plus Udonis Haslem, who played 29 minutes off the bench, you get a similar percentage: 79.2 percent. The two teams are both knocked for their lack of depth but they're hardly facing the same circumstances here.
First, there's an age difference. Boston's starters average 31.8 years while Miami's top-5 average 29.4, plus Boston has the three oldest players out of the 10 (Garnett, Pierce and Allen). Consider also Allen's ankle injury, the loss of Avery Bradley, Garnett's up-and-down production during the postseason, the game-every-other-day schedule with no extra off day, the fact that Boston needed seven games to defeat Philadelphia and the overtime on Wednesday night. Then there's the fact that Boston's reserves combind to score just 7 points in 58 minutes of playing time in Game 2 even though the Celtics scored 111 as a team. This after combining for 14 points in 57 minutes in Game 1.
In other words, Boston's starters are older, carrying a heavy load and dealing with plenty of contributing factors that make carrying that load more difficult. When you acknowledge how unlikely it is for Rondo to repeat his huge night, it's all enough to make you wonder whether Boston can scrounge up the energy for a few more big nights or if Game 2 will wind up being Boston's best effort of the series.
Celtics coach Doc Rivers acknowledged that the close overtime loss was "tough" to take but said his team would process it and turn the page.
"You hold onto [the loss] for 24 hours and then you move on," he said. "We've been really good at that. We have no choice in the matter... Listen, it's corny, but they've won two games at home, and now we go to a place that we're very comfortable in, and we have to win two games at home. Then we'll see from there."
3. Mario Chalmers as third scorer
The big question after the Heat lost Chris Bosh was who would emerge to help fill in his offensive production. Obviously James and Wade would receive more touches and score more points but a two-man attack wasn't going to be enough in and of itself to keep advancing in the postseason. Various Heat players have stepped up since Bosh went down, including Haslem and Battier.
But Chalmers seems ready to be the third guy. He's raised his postseason scoring average from 10.5 points with Bosh to 13.1 points without Bosh. He's also shooting better overall from the field since Bosh went down: 44.6 percent, up from 40 percent.
Chalmers had his most important offensive game of the 2012 postseason on Wednesday, scoring 22 points, grabbing 4 rebounds and dishing 6 assists while shooting 8-for-16 from the field. (It wasn't his highest-scoring game of the postseason; he scored 25 points in an ugly Game 3 loss to the Pacers).
A major issue for Chalmers is that his 3-point shooting has been up-and-down throughout the playoffs. Look no further than the fact that he missed all six of his treys in Game 1 against the Celtics after going 3-for-4 in the closeout Game 6 win over the Indiana Pacers. Given that he's not a primary ball-handler all that much with James and Wade on the court, sometimes players in his position will let their outside shooting dictate their entire contribution on a a given night.
The key in Game 2 was his fearlessness and efficiency going to the basket. Chalmers helped make Boston pay for its aggressive perimeter defense approach that had success forcing the ball out of Wade's hands. Chalmers cut, drove and made smart decisions and tough shots, scoring 10 of his 22 points in the paint. That's an impressive feat against a Garnett-led defense, especially for a point guard who has failed to crack double digits in scoring five times in this year's playoffs.
"I just tried to pick up the slack," Chalmers said. "I was able to loose tonight, and it kept going."
"He kept us afloat by his play," James said. "When D-Wade didn't have it going, Rio made big shots... He stepped up, made some big shots and gave us a life. He gave us a third punch that we needed in this game. He played a great game."
