I think we'd all settle for a repeat of Wednesday night's Celtics-Heat overtime thriller. From Rajon Rondo's sudden discovery of a jumpshot combined with his typical preposterousness en route to 44 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds to LeBron James willing his team to an overtime victory on and off the ball, offensively and defensively, with a 34-10-7 line -- of course, the silly water-cooler/Twitter talk was whether or not two missed shots at the end of regulation meant James wasn't "clutch" -- there's just so much crazy basketball talent on the court in this series that it's hard not to be excited about Game 3.
NBA Playoffs 2012, Celtics Vs. Heat Game 3: Game Time, TV Schedule And More
Rajon Rondo went off Wednesday night, but can he and the Celtics not only keep pace again, but actually beat the Heat in Game 3? They’ll need to in order to prevent LeBron James and company from taking an all-but insurmountable 3-0 lead.
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The question, of course, is whether the Celtics can maintain their performance. They needed seven games against an eighth-seeded Philadelphia 76ers team and were only able to stay in Game 2 due to Rondo’s unreal -- and possibly unsustainable -- shooting, as well as unbelievable team-wide shooting to open the game.
On the other hand, the play of James and Dwyane Wade, who followed up with 23 points, was pretty much par for the course. Look for the Heat to continue to give Rondo open looks and see whether the freakishly athletic point guard with the enormous hands can continue to do something he's never been able to do consistently before.
Game 3 will tip Friday night at 8:30 p.m. Eastern on ESPN, with the scene shifted to Boston.
For more on these teams, visit Heat blog Peninsula is Mightier and CelticsBlog. To stay up to date on all of the happenings in the 2012 NBA playoffs, head over to SB Nation’s dedicated NBA hub.
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