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The Celtics-Heat Game 2 line was listed at Miami -5 at Sportsbook.com. The total was 181.5.
After a physical Game 1 in which the Heat imposed their will on the aging Celtics, Kevin Garnett and company will look to even the series when they meet in South Beach for Game 2.
The Celtics were 13-for-32 (40.6%) in the paint on Sunday and seven of those FG attempts were blocked. This is the same Boston team that shot 57.8% from the same range during the regular season, second-best in the NBA. Rajon Rondo dominated the Knicks averaging 19.0 PPG and 12.0 APG, but was awful in Game 1, scoring just eight points and dishing out seven assists while turning the ball over five times. The Celtics also need better production out of Garnett, who scored just six points on 3-of-9 shooting. Glen “Big Baby” Davis posted a horrendous minus-21 rating in his 23 minutes on Sunday. Ray Allen had a great shooting night, dropping 25 points on 9-of-13 FG. Paul Pierce, who had 19 points and seven rebounds before getting ejected in Game 1, was not suspended, and will suit up Tuesday.
While Dwyane Wade scored 38 points and LeBron James added 22, the Heat got nothing out of the third member of the Big Three in Game 1, as Chris Bosh scored just seven points on 3-of-10 shooting. However, James Jones exploded for a career playoff-high 25 points thanks to 5-for-7 shooting from behind the arc. If the Heat can get that type of production from someone outside of the Big Three consistently, they are going to be hard to beat. LeBron James has been outscored by two or more of his teammates in two straight games. That happened in only two of LeBron’s 75 previous playoff games (both in losses with the Cavaliers).
Wade averaged just 12.8 PPG on 28.1 percent shooting against Boston during the regular season, so his Game 1 explosion was a bit shocking to the Celtics who thought they had him figured out.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
