Heat Vs. Celtics, Game 5: LeBron James, Miami End Boston’s Run, 97-87

When the dust settled and LeBron James had finally sent the Boston Celtics home from the NBA Playoffs, it was actually LeBron that said it best. As Craig Sager asked him about the Miami Heat and Game 5, LeBron wanted to talk about the Celtics.

“They make you fight for everything. You can never take your foot off the gas, you can never take a second off against that team. ... It’s a great team.” And then this: “They’re the reason all three of us came together. It’s because of what they did. That blueprint they had in ‘08 when they all came together.” There’s no better testament to the impact this Celtics core had on the NBA.

In the clincher in Miami, the Heat focused on getting to the rim and taking three-pointers, hallmarks of an effective offense. Tom Haberstroh reports that in Game 5, the Heat took fewer long twos -- that’d be shots from 16-23 feet in distance -- than they had in any game since March. Miami took 11 long twos, 19 three-pointers, 22 shots at the rim and 38 free throws.

In the regular season, Miami took more shots from 16-23 feet than anywhere else on the court, some 22.5 per game (vs. 20.5 at the rim and 18 threes). The shift to more shots at the rim -- which also tends to have an avatar in free throws -- versus the long twos is a key sign of aggressiveness, and usually works out for the better, especially when you have athletes like Wade and James.

Whether James’ 10-point surge Wednesday night to end Boston’s reign changes your opinion of him or not, it’s still something to behold again. Video via @blazersedge, edited to show all four of his closing scores:

The final layup isn’t especially clutchy, but our assessment of LeBron’s clutchiness has to be adjusted to square with him making three straight clutch shots in one game. Clutch clutch clutch, clutchy clutch clutch. Especially since one of them involved critical play at both ends of the floor. It’s only one game, but it’s a game that mattered a whole lot. Does this alter the way you think of LeBron, even if it’s just a little bit?

The Miami Heat finished Game 5 on a 16-0 run catapulting them to a 97-87 series clinching victory over the Boston Celtics. LeBron James quieted some of his critics scoring the final ten points of the game. James gave the Heat the lead for good with a three-point basket at 2:10 mark. A little over a minute later he buried another three giving Miami a six point lead. After a Boston time-out, James stole the inbounds pass and finished with a dunk that sent the American Airlines Arena into a frenzy.

Wade finished with 34 points while James chipped in 33 for the Heat. Chris Bosh added 14 as the new big three combined for 81 of Miami’s 97 points.

Boston and Miami are going at it like two heavyweight boxers in the middle of a title fight. The third quarter was played to a 24-24 draw and Boston retains a two point lead, 73-71 after three quarters of play. The Celtics were able to dodge a major bullet early in the third when Paul Pierce picked up his fourth personal foul with over eight minutes to go in the quarter. Pierce remained in the game and avoided picking up any more fouls.

Miami briefly took the lead in the third behind Dwyane Wade’s 30 points. LeBron James has 20 points also for the Heat. Ray Allen was able to keep Boston on top with two key three-point baskets in the third quarter and now has 18 points and five three-point baskets in the game.

To get to the goal, Miami would have to go through Boston, at least for the first couple years of the new Heat era. Guess what? The Heat are one win away from going through Boston; a victory in Game 5 in South Beach would propel Miami to the Eastern Conference Finals over the Celtics.

Miami now has three opportunities to finish off Boston, with the first coming Wednesday (7 p.m. ET, TNT). If they can do it, the road to Championship No.1 still has obstacles. But the hurdle feared to be the greatest will have been cleared, and that’s no small thing.