Heat Vs. Celtics: Boston Holds Off Miami’s Comeback Effort, Wins 88-80

We knew the Miami Heat would make a run, and they did. Led by LeBron James, the Heat did come back, and cut the lead to six points entering the fourth quarter. But the Celtics wouldn’t let them get over the hump.

Paul Pierce hit two big three-pointers to widen the gap, and the Celtics held off a late Heat rally to get a 88-80 win in the first game of the Miami Thrice era. The Celtics certainly looked great, and played as good, if not better, than they did in racing to the NBA Finals last year. Pierce starred, Rajon Rondo dominated without scoring, Kevin Garnett did his thing, Shaquille O’Neal made a contribution and the bench changed the game. They deserve a lot of credit.

But the story of the game is Miami’s lack of offensive flow. In fact, the only time they really got anything going was when they surrounded James with four role players -- Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Eddie House, James Jones and Udonis Haslem. Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh both looked really bad, with Wade in particular struggling to find his way on the court. Both James and Wade committed turnovers they rarely commit, and Bosh looked small against Boston’s imposing front line. They clearly have much work to do to to develop the kind of chemistry necessary to dominate the league.

It’s one game, so let’s not freak out too much. Considering the way the preseason went for both teams, this result isn’t even a huge surprise. But as tonight clearly showed, the league will not bow down to the Miami Superteam. They will need to earn everything they get.