Celtics win over Heat silver lining on dark, cloudy day

Boston beat the Miami Heat 100-98 and they did it without Rajon Rondo.

It’s a good omen, because the Celtics are going to have to hang on to a playoff spot in the East with more gritty games like this one because Rajon Rondo is out for the season with a torn ACL. Boston did it with a triple-double from Paul Pierce and an appearance by the good Jeff Green. It was enough for a day against the best team in the East and a reason to hope the playoffs are still not out of question.

Rondo’s injury leads to a lot of big-picture questions for the Celtics — is it time to fully blow up the big three era? — but that’s not how the guys in the locker room can look at it. Doc Rivers summed that up after the game, via CSNNE.com.

“Well you can write the obituary, I’m not,” Rivers said.

What he’s going to have to do is find someone to provide the steady offense. And their defense is going to have to keep playing like this.

Make no mistake it was Boston’s defense that won them this game — Miami had an offensive rating of just 90.1 (points per 100 possessions) in the game. Miami shot just 40.6 percent as a team and was 5-of-23 from three. Ray Allen came off the bench to score 21 but was just 7-of-17 shooting, Dwyane Wade had 17 points but needed 20 shots to do it and missed his last seven attempts. Miami had just 19 points on 31.6 percent shooting in the fourth quarter.

Had it not been for another big night from LeBron James — 34 points, 16 rebounds, 7 assists — Boston could have won this game handily. But even James needed 31 shots to get his points and down the stretch Jeff Green did a good job keeping him in check.

Boston’s offense wasn’t a much better than Miami’s but it got enough key plays when it mattered. In the second overtime Miami took a 98-95 lead with 62 seconds to play on a LeBron James three point play (the old-school way). But then Jason Terry hit a driving layup. Boston gets a stop them Pierce hits a 21-foot pull-up jumper to take a 99-98. You knew Miami would go to LeBron but Greed contested, the shot went wide, Pierce got the rebound and was fouled making one of two (100-98). Miami went for the win but Shane Battier‘s 3-pointer wasn’t close.

Pierce had a sloppy triple double — 17 points but on 6-of-16 shooting, plus 13 rebounds and 10 assists. Kevin Garnett had 24 points on 10-of-19 shooting.

It was enough. It was a silver lining to provide a little hope on a day that largely seems gloomy for the Celtics.