Lackluster effort could have impact on Heat's confidence

BOSTON -- With 6:39 to go in the third quarter Tuesday night, the 289-pound Glen Davis flattened the 190-pound Mario Chalmers, landing right on top of the helpless point guard in the middle of the paint. And Chalmers was called for the foul.

That play pretty much summed up Game 2 between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat, a 106-77 trouncing by the home team to give them a 2-0 series lead.

After Game 1, even tough they fell apart in the second half, there was a feeling among the Heat players and staff that they definitely had the ability to beat the Celtics. They had played Boston close in all three regular season games and were up 14 early in the third quarter on Saturday.

They're probably not feeling so confident after Game 2, as the Celtics turned in a postseason performance unseen around here since Game 6 of the 2008 Finals. Boston dominated both ends of the floor, Miami looked like a lottery team, and Kevin Garnett's absence didn't matter one bit.

The second half of Game 1, when Miami scored just 15 points over the final 19 ½ minutes, clearly carried over in Game 2. The key stretch on Tuesday came in the second quarter, after the Heat took a 29-25 lead. Over the next eight minutes, the Celtics held the Heat scoreless on 13 straight possessions, resulting in a 21-0 run. There was a similar stretch in the third, and this one quickly became a blowout.

When this season started, Doc Rivers challenged his team to one day be referred to as the best defensive team ever. And they're finally looking something like it.

Unless this is more about the Miami offense.

The Celtics again had five guys ready to keep Dwyane Wade from the basket. And none of Wade's teammates were able to step up and shoulder some of the scoring load.

Both Jermaine O'Neal and Michael Beasley vowed to be more aggressive after sub-par performances in Game 1. Neither hesitated to put shots up, but those shots failed to make their way through the hoop.

O'Neal shot a putrid 1-for-10, just the second time in his 940-game career (regular and postseason) that he's failed to connect on two field goals when he's taken 10 or more.

When Beasley finally hit a couple of jumpers early in the third quarter, he quickly picked up his fourth foul, because Davis beat him down the floor for the fourth time. On this night, the Heat's issues were definitely not limited to their offense.

Not only was their transition defense poor, but with the Celtics setting multiple pick and rolls on every possession, the Heat quickly got lost in their rotations. Davis scored 23 points by rolling to the basket and finding holes in the Miami defense. And when the Heat paid more attention to the self-proclaimed "Ticket Stub," Ray Allen went off from the perimeter, connecting on seven of his nine attempts from 3-point range.

"Defensively, we sucked," Wade put it both bluntly and accurately.

This was a clinic. The Heat watched hours upon hours of tape after Game 1. And it didn't do them a lick of good. All the problems they had on Saturday resurfaced on Tuesday. And when the Celtics began to take it to them, they just rolled over.

"At soon as we went on that drought, eight or nine [possessions], our minds were shot," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

Maybe the Celtics were motivated by Saturday's fourth-quarter scuffle and Garnett's suspension. Or maybe they've just turned up the defense. Either way, the Heat didn't come close to matching their energy, effort or execution.

"We have to be a lot tougher mentally than that," Spoelstra said. "This is the playoffs. We are both playing for the same thing. It's just as important for us as it is to them, and we can't get knocked off our game."

Before Saturday, with the Heat coming in hot and the Celtics struggling down the stretch of the regular season, this was looking like a long series. Now, it's looking a lot more like a sweep. And to avoid that, Miami will need to display a ton of resolve, and a little amnesia, come Friday's Game 3.

"The next step for us will be that mental toughness, that mental stability" Spoelstra said. "Where that mental toughness will come in to is keeping this what it is."

Yes, it was just one game. And if the Heat look at the glass as half empty, all the Celtics did was win their first two home games. But if Game 3 isn't a heck of a lot different than Games 1 and 2, the Heat aren't coming back to Boston.

"In both games, there was a point of really being tested," Spoelstra said. "And in both games we failed that mental test."

John Schuhmann is a staff writer for NBA.com. You can e-mail him here or follow him on Twitter.