The Miami Heat withstood a virtuoso performance from Rajon Rondo, who tallied a career-high 44 points, to emerge with a 115-111 overtime victory over the Boston Celtics and claim a 2-0 Eastern Conference Finals lead on Wednesday.
The outstanding Rondo, who added 10 assists and eight rebounds, was on court for the entire 53 minutes of a hugely entertaining encounter, but was left to fight without Paul Pierce (21 points) in overtime after he fouled out in the fourth.
Rondo’s range of skills — his pinpoint shooting, light-footed dribbling, vision and fitness — were all on display and he scored all 12 of his team’s points in overtime, but remained unmoved by his outstanding statistics.
“It’s irrelevant. We lost. It’s as simple as that,” a dejected Rondo told reporters.
Celtics head coach Doc Rivers, however, knew that he had seen something special from his point guard.
“He was absolutely phenomenal and put the whole team on his shoulders at times,” he said. “It’s tough to have him play that way and not win the game, honestly, because he basically did everything right.”
Miami had to dig deep to muster an impressive third-quarter comeback to haul themselves back into the contest after trailing by as many as 15 points during the second quarter and went into the halftime interval 53-46 down.
However, by the end of the third, Miami had moved 81-75 ahead, having outscored the Celtics by 13 points in the quarter, Dwyane Wade finally breaking free of close attention with 12 points, after managing only two in the first half.
The crowd were on their feet throughout the fourth quarter, sensing victory, but there were a few more twists and turns before Miami had the win in the bag.
Miami led by three points with 34.3 seconds left on the clock, but they allowed Ray Allen space for a three-pointer that he sank with characteristic aplomb, and then LeBron James (34 points) missed a jump shot in the final second of regulation to leave with the scores level at 99-99.
With two minutes of the extra period remaining, Rondo drained a three-pointer, reduced to two on review, to put Boston ahead, but baskets from James, Udonis Haslem and Wade carried Miami to victory.
Boston were angered that no foul was called with the score tied at 105-105 when Rondo went for a lay-up, but missed as he was struck in the face by Wade.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
RSS