Heat-Celtics Preview

Posted Apr 23 2012 5:55PM

For both the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics, resting stars appears to be the priority over any possible improvement in postseason positioning.

The Celtics, though, could have a bit more help Tuesday night as they try for a third win this month over the Heat, who may be without LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

Miami only has a slim chance of catching Chicago for the top seed in the Eastern Conference, but Boston has a better shot of getting home-court advantage in its first-round series against Atlanta.

The Celtics (37-27) still opted to rest Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen in Friday's 97-92 loss to the Hawks. Pierce and Garnett could return Tuesday, but Allen (ankle) and Rondo (back) remain day-to-day with injuries.

Allen, who has missed seven straight games, sat out Monday's practice along with Rondo, Mickael Pietrus and Greg Stiemsma.

"If I thought our guys were banged up, I'd sit them. That's not even a question for me," coach Doc Rivers told the Celtics' official website. "I'm taking rest and rhythm over home court."

While Boston has the No. 4 seed in the East via the Atlantic Division title, it needs to gain a game on fifth-seeded Atlanta over the final two contests in order to start the postseason at home.

The Heat (46-18) would need to win twice and have the Bulls lose two to get the No. 1 spot, a scenario that seems unlikely with Chicago hosting Cleveland in its finale Thursday.

Miami has not said how it will proceed after it bounced back from a tough loss to Washington on Saturday with a 97-88 victory Sunday against Houston. Wade and Bosh sat out along with Mario Chalmers (flu) and Ronny Turiaf (hamstring).

Bosh has missed the last four games with muscle fatigue in his legs, while Wade dislocated his left index finger Saturday.

James rested Saturday, but had 32 points, eight rebounds and five assists Sunday. It's unclear if he'll play in the final two games.

"Everything from here on out will be a daily decision," coach Erik Spoelstra said.

The Heat are feeling confident with James capping an impressive season Spoelstra believes should earn him his third MVP.

James is averaging 27.1 points and has scored at least 30 six times this month.

"Every night I try to go out and be the MVP for our team," James said. "Individual accolades take care of themselves. All I care about is team success and making my teammates happy."

He had 36 points April 10 against the Celtics, but Boston won 115-107 in Miami. The Celtics have won both meetings this month after the Heat won 115-107 on Dec. 27.

Another victory for the Celtics may help them pull even with Atlanta, which hosts the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday. Boston has the tiebreaker over the Hawks.

"Home court is great; you want to have home court," Pierce said. "You want to try to play for home court, but at the end of the day you want to be healthy first.

"I mean, we're definitely a better home team than we are a road team, but at this point we feel like if we're healthy we have a chance in anybody's building. We've shown we can beat anybody in the Eastern Conference in their building."

The Celtics look especially formidable after the emergence of Avery Bradley, who has started 16 of the last 17 games with Allen banged up. The second-year guard is averaging 15.5 points in that stretch after scoring a career-high 28 on Friday.

Pavlovic rallies Celtics to 78-66 win over Heat

Posted Apr 25 2012 12:39AM

BOSTON (AP) With much more to lose in potential injuries than gain with another victory, the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat let their reserves decide the second-to-last game of the regular season.

Rest and recovery were of much greater importance as both teams looked ahead to the postseason and patched together lineups that hardly resembled last year's second-round playoff series.

The result was sloppy at times, but turned into a relatively even matchup before the seldom-used Celtics rallied for a 78-66 win over the starless Heat on Tuesday night.

Sasha Pavlovic led Boston with a season-high 16 points, scoring 12 in the fourth quarter as the Celtics pulled away by shooting 50 percent (11 for 22) in the period and forcing Miami into eight of its season-high 25 turnovers.

"Well, someone had to win the game and we did, which was really nice," Boston coach Doc Rivers said. "You know, these games are still important, probably for both teams."

But not important enough to risk anybody's playoff status.

LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh were out for the Heat. Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo didn't play for the Celtics.

Rivers said Rondo and Garnett should be back in the lineup on Thursday when Boston hosts Milwaukee in the final game of the regular season. By rallying for a win Tuesday, the Celtics - locked into the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference as a division winner - can still get home-court advantage for the first round of the playoffs against Atlanta with another victory on Thursday and a loss by Hawks. Atlanta heads into the season finale with a one-game lead but Boston won the season series.

The Celtics would prefer to open the playoffs on the road with a healthy lineup than be back at home with Rondo (back), Garnett (hip flexor) or Allen (bone spurs) still hobbled by injuries.

"We'll see," Rivers said. "It would be nice to put some more pressure and force Atlanta to have to win."

Anyone who bought a ticket to this game months ago, anticipating an Eastern Conference showdown was disappointed. Instead, it was the Heat JV taking on the Celtics Lite.

Bosh didn't dress again because of a left hamstring strain. James and Wade were still in warmups and didn't come to the bench until after the starting lineups were announced and although they were listed as active, they never entered the game.

Instead of trying to catch Chicago for the top seed in the East, the Heat are now locked in at No. 2.

"We wanted to make sure going into the last week with a quick turnaround that we were ready for this weekend," Miami coach Eric Spoelstra said. "We had legitimate injuries. We weren't just sitting guys."

Dexter Pittman had 12 points, James Jones scored 11 and Udonis Haslem grabbed 13 rebounds for the Heat, whose 25 turnovers were a season high. Miami failed to score 20 in any quarter and had just 16 in each of the final two periods.

"We made too many turnovers and they capitalized on them," Jones said. "We did some good things, but just not enough so we are locked into the second seed and we are focused on trying to correct some of our mistakes as we move into the playoffs."

Marquis Daniels finished with 13 points, Brandon Bass had eight points and eight rebounds for the Celtics. Paul Pierce finished with eight points. He started the game, but sat out the fourth quarter while Pavlovic thrilled the remaining fans as the Celtics improved to 3-1 against the Heat this season.

"I started kid of slow in the first half. Doc was on me about that," said Pavlovic, who 0 for 2 while going scoreless in the first half. "I just cam out in the second half and played as hard as I could defensively. Whenever I had an open shot, I just took it."

Pavlovic was 5 for 6 in the fourth quarter, hitting two 3s while scoring 12.

The Celtics had almost as many turnovers (7) as points (10) in the first quarter and failed to score until a little past the midpoint of the opening period. But after the sloppy start, Boston's patchwork lineup came together in the third quarter, tying it with a 10-0 run late and then outscoring the Heat 10-4 to start the fourth.

"It wasn't a pretty game - obviously, with 25 turnovers," Spoelstra said. "However we got to that point, we were still tied halfway through the fourth quarter. It just went from there."

Sean Williams hit two free throws to put Boston up 58-54, then Pavlovic pulled up with a baseline jumper for a 60-54 lead with 6:35 remaining and Miami called a time out.

Pavlovic continued to pick apart the Heat, driving for a dunk that put the Celtics up 62-56, then hitting a 3-pointer to stretch the lead to nine with 4:45 left.

Pavlovic's previous high for the season was 10, two fewer than he scored in the final quarter.

Pierce hit a jumper, fed Bass with a pass under the basket for a dunk and then Pavlovic hit a jumper to get the Celtics started on a 10-0 run that tied it at 46-all late in the third quarter. It was tied at 50 entering the fourth. Daniels stole the ball from Juwan Howard and took it uncontested for a dunk that put the Celtics up 54-52, Boston's first lead since 18-17 in the second quarter.

The Celtics are at home Thursday against Milwaukee while the Heat close out the regular season at Washington

Haslem and Mario Chalmers were the only regular Miami starters while Pierce and Bass were Boston normal starters in the opening lineup.

NOTES: The Celtics didn't score until Pierce's turnaround jumper with 5:45 left in the first quarter, cutting Miami's lead to 11-2. ... The Celtics matched their season-low for a quarter with just 10 points in the first period. ... The Heat knocked the Celtics out in the second round of the playoffs last year, winning the series 4-1. ... One of the loudest cheers of the night was when the big-screen monitor showed highlights of the Boston Bruins' win over Washington in Game 6 on Sunday. The Bruins host the Capitals on Wednesday night in Game 7.

Notebook: Celtics 78, Heat 66

Posted Wednesday April 25, 2012 12:52AM

By Brian Robb, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Sasha Pavlovic scored a season-high 16 points off the bench as the Boston Celtics overcame a horrific start to defeat the Miami Heat 78-66 at TD Garden. Paul Pierce was the only All-Star to see action for the undermanned squads, as both coaches had their second units battle for the majority of the sloppy contest. Behind the strong play of Pavlovic and Marquis Daniels (season-high 13 points), Boston's reserves were able to battle back from a double-digit first-half deficit and keep their team in the hunt for homecourt advantage in the first round of the postseason against Atlanta. Without their Big Three, Miami was unable to execute offensively all night and finished with a season-low 66 points. The loss cemented the Heat as the second seed in the Eastern Conference, as the Chicago Bulls clinched the top spot after Miami's setback.

QUOTABLE: "You know these games are still important, probably for both teams. We pretty much know our rotation[for the postseason], but someone else is always going to help you in the playoffs, and games like this can give you confidence. That was huge for Sasha [Pavlovic].
-- Boston coach Doc Rivers

THE STAT: The Heat turned the ball over a season-high 25 times, with 11 of those miscues coming in the first quarter.

TURNING POINT: With the Celtics clinging to a four-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, Pavlovic erupted for 12 points of his 16 points over a six-minute stretch, allowing Boston's reserves to push the lead to double digits and put Miami away.

QUOTABLE II: "In my 11 years, that's the worst game I've ever witnessed. In the NBA, you've got to take the good with the bad."
-- Miami's Shane Battier on the sloppy play of both teams

HOT: Pavlovic -- After going scoreless in the first half, the fill-in member of Boston's starting lineup had all 16 of his points after intermission, hitting 7-of-8 shots, including two from beyond the arc.

NOT: Boston's first quarter -- The hosts went scoreless for the first 6:15 of the contest, spotting Miami an 11-0 lead after missing their first seven shots. The Celts finished the quarter shooting 23.5 percent (4-for-17) from the field and tied a season-low with 10 points in the frame.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Udonis Haslem -- The veteran power forward continued his excellence on the glass, grabbing 13 rebounds for Miami in just 23 minutes. It was his fourth straight contest with double-digit boards, as he is averaging 11.2 rebounds over his past five games.

INSIDE THE ARENA: Tiquan Underwood, Kyle Arrington, and Kevin Faulk of the New England Patriots all took in the game from courtside at the Garden.

ROOKIE WATCH: With so many starters sidelined, it was a big night of action for the rookies on both sides. The standout of the four youngsters that saw major minutes was E'Twaun Moore, who grabbed seven rebounds in 24 minutes of action, setting career highs in both categories for himself. He also added seven points on 3-for-6 shooting.

NOTABLE: Ray Allen missed his eighth consecutive game due to bone spurs in his left ankle, although Rivers indicated he thinks Allen will be ready for the postseason. Kevin Garnett (rest/hip flexor), Rajon Rondo (back), Mickael Pietrus (knee) and Greg Steimsma (foot) also did not suit up for Boston. Rivers expects all of them to play except for Steimsma in the regular-season finale Thursday against Milwaukee. Chris Bosh told reporters before the game he has been bothered by a strained left hamstring over the past week. Dwyane Wade (finger), LeBron James (ankle), and Ronny Turiaf (hamstring) also did not play. Miami coach Erik Spolestra was unsure whether any of his injured players will be available Thursday night, but believes the entire roster will be healthy enough to suit up for the start of the postseason this weekend. With the victory, Boston won the season series over Miami 3-1. The Celtics remain one game back of Atlanta in the battle for home-court advantage in the first round, but they do hold the tiebreaker. The Hawks host Dallas on Thursday night.

UP NEXT: For the Heat Thursday @ Washington. For the Celtics, Thursday vs. Milwaukee.

• Heat: Bosh, Turiaf
• Celtics: Allen, Pietrus

• Heat: --
• Celtics: --

• Lead Changes: 5
• Times Tied: 4

• Arena: TD Garden, Boston, MA
• Officials: #13 Monty McCutchen, #30 John Goble, #61 Courtney Kirkland
• Attendance: 18624
• Duration: 2:18