Miami Heat Outlast Boston Celtics in Tough Game 2

The Miami Heat defeated the Boston Celtics on May 30, walking away with a 115-111 victory. With the win, the Heat are now six wins away from their first title in the LeBron James era.

Unlike Game 1, Wednesday's contest was very competitive, with the Heat finally pulling away in overtime.
The Celtics came out blazing in the first quarter, taking a seven-point lead into the halftime break. The Heat started their comeback in the third quarter, outscoring the Celtics by 13 points and regaining control of the game.

However, the Celtics had a little more fight left in them, and they fought their way back in the final quarter, forcing the game into overtime. Fortunately for the Heat, they came out strong in the overtime period, securing the four point victory.

"This group [the Celtics] had resolve," Dwyane Wade told reporters after the game. "They came out and played a great game. It was physical early. They brought the game to us. That can't happen. We used our crowd and the energy to get back into the game, and we had to play better."

The Heat strayed from their trademark defense in Game 2, and it almost cost them the win. They allowed Rajon Rondo to put up historic numbers against them, with the Celtics' point guard finishing with 44 points, 10 assists, and 8 rebounds.

LeBron struggled a bit with his shot in Game 2, but he was still productive on the court, finishing with 34 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists. Wade was Miami's second highest scorer, walking away with 23 points and 6 rebounds.

Mario Chalmers also gave the Celtics a lot of problems on Wednesday, finishing with 22 points and 6 assists.

While the Heat didn't show up defensively in Game 2, I like what they did on the offensive end. They spread out their offense throughout the game, and that made it easier for their role players to get involved. With the exception of Norris Cole - who only played for two minutes, every player on Miami's squad put points on the board, and I hope to see more of the same when the two teams meet at The Garden for Game 3 on June 1.

David is a Miami Heat fan that has followed the team for 16 years. Follow him on twitter @davidkingwriter and check out his blog.
 
Sources:
Associated Press, "Rajon Rondo outstanding but LeBron James, Heat rally for 2-0 lead"