For the second time early in the 2010-2011 NBA season, the Celtics have defeated the Miami Heat. The first came on the apocalyptic opening night game at the Garden. On Thursday night, the C's took their collective talents to South Beach and gave Miami it's second consecutive loss on the season as well as at home (hello Jeff Van Gundy are you listening?).
This game was full of highlights, with Rajon Rondo placing extra emphasis on his emphatic dunk in the first quarter. I'm not sure was more amazing about that play: the actual jam, or the fact that Chris Bosh didn't even contest it. Either way it was spectacular. Below are the "greenlights" from each quarter.
Q1: The opening stanza of the rematch begins with a nice night-time shot of Miami, followed by the C's winning the opening tip and Rondo drilling the jumper to get the offense going. Other highlights include:
- KG kicking it out to Ray for the three
- Shaq with the lay-up, and 1
- Paul Pierce guarding LeBron James in the post, forcing the missed shot, leading to KG drilling a jumper
- A beautiful Ray Allen jumper off a curl
- Good defense, forcing LeBron to toss the ball out of Chris Bosh's reach and out of bounds
- KG keeping a possession alive, allowing Ray to hit the floater
- Ray deflecting a cross-court LeBron pass
- KG's loud rebounding
- Pierce knocking down the jumper
- Excellent defense on both LeBron and Dwyane Wade, attempting to attack the basket
- Big Baby with a hard foul on LeBron
- Good ball movement resulting in another Ray floater
- Wade firing a fastball out of bounds
- Rondo taking his talents to South Beach
- Nate Robinson's weak technical foul
- Semih Erden keeping a possession alive, then scoring a lay-up, and 1 on the next possession
- Nate drilling a jumper
Q2: The second quarter begins with Nate drilling a three. Other highlights include:
- Rondo going coast-to-coast then dishing to a cutting Marquis Daniels for the lay-in
- Pierce with good one-on-one defense on Jerry Stackhouse, forcing the missed jumper; then Pierce drilling the same jumper over Stackhouse on the next possession
- Shaq with a hard foul on a driving Wade
- BIg Baby following his own shot, then eventually kicking it out to Pierce for the three
- Big Baby running the floor, then getting the hustle (and lucky) tip-in
- Pierce doing work on Wade (drawing the foul) and Stackhouse (laying it in) in the post
- Rondo flying high to break up the Wade/Bosh alley-oop
- Ray Allen backing off a driving Wade, forcing the missed lay-up, then getting rewarded on the break by an assisting Rondo, burying the three
- KG and Big Baby clogging the paint, getting the rebound then outletting to Rondo who, again, rewards his teammate (KG), who knocks down the jumper from the top of the key
- Rondo stepping into the passing lane, stealing the ball then leading the break when he eventually dishes to a cutting KG for two and a foul
- Ray Ray drilling threes
- KG with an amazing finish on the break for two
- Pierce with the George Gervin finger-roll, scoop shot to end the half
- Ray Allen's halftime interview: "We really don't like anybody, we focus on ourselves..."
Q3: The third quarter begins with Pierce driving to the hoop for two. Other highlights include:
- Good defense, forcing a missed LeBron three
- Rondo with the no-look bounce-pass dish to Pierce for two
- Shaq rejecting Wade, leading to Rondo finding Ray in the corner for a baseline three
- Rondo with the behind-the-back bounce pass to Pierce who hits the turnaround jumper in the lane
- Another assist for Rondo, finding a cutting Ray for the fade-away jumper
- Shaq's "flagrant" foul on LeBron
- Rondo hustling on KG's missed free throw, firing it off Udonis Haslem to retain possession
- KG and Big Baby doing MAJOR work on the boards
- Big Baby with a beautiful spin move on Haslem in the post
- Big Baby's 15th taken charge of the season, his victim this time: Wade
- Pierce draining a baseline jumper over old friend Eddie House
- Pierce to KG to Big Baby for the lay-in
- Ray rattling in a three, then smiling at Reggie Miller as he strolls down the court
- LeBron tries to counter, but airballs a three
- Pierce with another baseline pull-up jumper
Q4:The final quarter begins with the C's crashing the boards leading to a beautiful feed by Nate to a cutting Ray for the textbook lay-up. Other highlights include:
- Good defense forcing a James Jones airballed baseline three
- Another jumper by Nate
- Nate with the acrobatic lay-up
- KG with the jumper over Bosh
- Nate with the floater
- Another forced turnover by Wade
- LeBron's illegal screen on Rondo
- Rondo finding Ray yet again, in the corner for three
- Rondo with the Bob Cousy-esque runner off the glass for two
- KG getting Bosh on the pump-fake, then knocking down the elbow jumper over Haslem
- Wade's toilet-bowl three
- Pierce 'doin work on LeBron in the lane
- KG to Rondo to Ray for the left-handed lay-in
- LeBron hitting the side of the backboard on a three
- Ray getting all ball on Wade's drive to the hoop
