I often wonder what opposing teams, their beat reporters and bloggers are saying about the Celtics after playing the Celtics. Here's a dose of 'enemy chatter' from Miami.
The Celtics forced overtime when Rondo scored on an inbounds lob from Paul Pierce to beat the buzzer. Rondo beat Mario Chalmers around a pick and attacked an unguarded rim.
Spoelstra stopped just short of second-guessing his decision, but said he probably should have left a defender inside to guard the rim. Instead, Spoelstra didn't want to gamble and leave Allen or Pierce open for a shot.``It was a heck of a play,'' Spoelstra said. ``[Rondo] showed his 40-inch vertical on the run. We felt like we were in control. But the Celtics were never out of it. The lead went from 11 -- just like that. We still had opportunities. It didn't go our way.''
It's just difficult to fathom why Quentin Richardson would even take a chance at protesting a call in the final two minutes of regulation in such a close game. But that's just what he did, and he paid for it. Richardson was hit with a tech with 1:35 left in the fourth, and Allen's free throw put Boston ahead 96-93. That free throw got Allen going, and he would hit a three moments later to push the lead to 99-95. Q just didn't have enough clout to get away with the jawing, because there were numerous times when Wade and Wallace said far worse and got away with it.
Then, you have to wonder why Spoelstra didn't run a better defensive set that would have better guarded the rim to defend the inbounds lob that Rondo scored. One of the few plays that could have beaten the Heat with that little left time in that situation certainly did beat the Heat.
Michael Wallace - Miami Herald
This felt like a giant reminder of what the Heat are trying to become. They couldn't hit anything down the stretch when Boston hit seemingly every big shot. The Heat couldn't draw up any good looking plays when they needed to score, and Boston was coming up with amazing yet easy looking plays. It's just sickening how they can play so well for so long and still blow it. Games like this are why basketball is nowhere near my favorite sport.
Peninsula is Mightier - Heat Crumble When it Counts
On Page 2, what D-Wade, Q-Rich, M-Chalm and U-Has had to say...
"It gets no tougher than this one,'' Wade said.
"That's a tough one to swallow,'' Richardson said. ``But that's the NBA. You have to bounce back.''
“Bottom line is, we had our chances,” Haslem said.
“That play could happen to anyone,” said Mario Chalmers, who was guarding Rondo.
Associated Press/Miami Herald