C's Down Heat, Move to 8-0

11/17/2007

Although it was on life support, the Celtics' undefeated start is alive.

On the strength of Paul Pierce's hoop with 25 seconds remaining, they pushed their record to 8-0 with a 92-91 victory over the Miami Heat last night at TD Banknorth Garden. Boston's start is its best since the 1972-73 team opened with 10 straight wins. The franchise record for best start is 14-0 in 1957-58. Kevin Garnett led the Celtics with 26 points.

After Garnett's jumper with 8:12 remaining pushed the Celtics ahead, 86-72, they went cold at the wrong time. The Heat trimmed their deficit to 8 (86-78) on a layup by Dwyane Wade. With 5:32 left, Kendrick Perkins went to the bench for the Celtics, and the 6-foot-11-inch, 220-pound Garnett was stuck guarding 7-1, 325-pound Shaquille O'Neal.

O'Neal's dunk with 4:37 left trimmed Boston's lead to 86-80. After an airball by Pierce, Miami rookie Daequan Cook's layup sliced the Celtics' lead to 86-82 with 4:08 remaining. Ex-Celtic Ricky Davis nailed a 3-pointer with 3:38 left to bring Miami within 86-85. O'Neal made 1 of 2 free throws to tie the game at 86.

Ray Allen nailed two free throws with 2:24 remaining to end a nearly six-minute drought and give Boston an 88-86 lead. A Rajon Rondo jumper with 1:35 left pushed the Celtics up, 90-86.

After a layup by Wade, Cook's strong dunk plus a foul over James Posey tied the game at 90. Cook, however, missed the free throw.

After a rebound by Udonis Haslem, Garnett surprisingly fouled him with 33.5 seconds left. Haslem hit 1 of 2 free throws to give the Heat a 91-90 lead.

Pierce was struggling offensively for most of the game until his hoop gave Boston the lead back at 92-91. With time running down, Wade attempted a 21-foot jumper over his former teammate Posey. But the shot was long, and Posey grabbed the rebound as the clock ran out.

Just last season, the Heat were the defending NBA champions and Wade was the darling of the league, even over the likes of LeBron James. The combination of Wade and O'Neal was as intimidating as any in team sports. But the Heat's reign was short-lived, as they were bounced out of the first round of the playoffs.

Knee and shoulder injuries kept Wade out of the first seven games of this season. There has been talk that the 35-year-old O'Neal is on the decline. And without Wade, Miami opened up the season 1-6.

"It's the NBA season, anything can happen" Posey said yesterday morning. "Unfortunately, it happened to them."

Posey also knows that with perennial All-Stars like Wade and O'Neal on your roster, you always have a chance to win.

"You can't look at anybody's record because anything can happen on any given night," Posey said. "You have to go in and respect everybody."

Wade and O'Neal definitely made the Celtics respect them early. O'Neal scored 6 points and Wade 4 as Miami raced to a 16-13 lead with 6:02 left in the first quarter. O'Neal, however, was sent to the bench with two fouls 13 seconds later.

With O'Neal out, the Heat turned to 37-year-old Alonzo Mourning. Mourning had 4 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots in the remainder of the quarter as the teams were tied at 24 after one. Garnett had 10 points and four rebounds in the quarter for the Celtics.

Celtics guard Eddie House was in uniform after missing the previous game with a right ankle sprain suffered Tuesday at Indiana. Coach Doc Rivers, however, sounded as if he planned not to play House, who said how his ankle felt during warm-ups would determine if he sees action. Well, House's ankle must have felt good, as he checked in to start the second quarter.

O'Neal reentered with 10:22 left in the half with the score tied at 26. His putback dunk gave the Heat a 28-27 lead. Despite landing his third foul with Miami up, 35-33, with 5:58 left in the half, O'Neal remained in the game for a time.

Six straight points by Garnett gave Boston a 39-35 lead. Mourning reentered for O'Neal with 4:09 left in the half.

Pierce went to the bench with three fouls and the Celtics up, 45-40. A jumper by Allen with 1:52 left in the second quarter gave Boston a 49-41 lead and woke up the crowd.

Garnett had 16 points by halftime, while Allen added 14 and Pierce 8. Wade had 11 points at the intermission, while O'Neal and Davis each had 10. Miami also blocked five shots in the first half, but Boston had 15 assists.

The Celtics had problems pulling away as Perkins's layup with 6:24 left in the third gave them a 62-56 lead. But a fast-break dunk by Posey over Haslem gave Boston a 67-56 edge with 4:51 left in the quarter. A pretty reverse layup by Posey gave the Celtics a 72-59 advantage with 2:53 left in the third.