Saturday night could have been the finale to the original “big 3.” After five seasons together, two NBA Finals appearances and one championship the Celtics game seven loss to the Heat seems to have been their final chapter.
LeBron James lead the Miami Heat with 31 points and 12 rebounds in a 101-88 victory over the Celtics advancing his team to their second straight NBA Finals appearance.
All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists.
“Give them credit,” Rondo said. “They spread the points out as a team tonight. Give them credit. They played great tonight as a team and we just came up short.”
The Heat have played extremely well in the third quarter all postseason games and used a 27-20 advantage over the Celtics Sunday to erase a seven point half time deficit.
This game was close for the first three quarters and it looked like Boston was going to pull the upset, but ran run out of gas.
“We had nothing left,” Rivers said. “That’s how it felt, as a coach. … But overall, I don’t know if I’ve ever had a group like this.”
Chris Bosh made big plays for the Heat, scoring 19 points including some clutch threes and grabbing 8 rebounds.
“He was big time. Every shot, every defensive play, every rebound he got, we missed him,” James said of Bosh. “We’re just happy to have him back at the right time. If it wasn’t for him and the rest of the guys that stepped up, we don’t win this game.”
Miami shot 51% from the field compared to Boston’s 46% and shot better from beyond the arc 34% to 31%.
With the game out of hand in the fourth, head coach Doc Rivers took all three of his hall of famers out. An emotional Rivers was shown hugging Garnett and even tearing up a bit.
Miami will now move on to face the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals. Last season ended with a loss to the Dallas Mavericks, LeBron James and company are hoping to finish what they started by winning it all this season.
Basketball fans will get something special, the two best players in the world squaring off for a chance to call themselves a champion.
Some are calling the James/Durant match up the new Bird/Magic. I’m not sure I would go that far, but this is great for the NBA and will be special.
Game one in Oklahoma City is Tuesday night, tip off set for 9pm.
