Despite numerous chances to even their Eastern Conference Semifinal series against the Heat, the Celtics were pushed around on Monday night at the TD Garden. Miami now has a chance to eliminate Boston with a win on their home floor on Wednesday following a 98-90 overtime victory in Game 4. 

“It’s a tough place to win, but what we’re going to face on Wednesday will be our greatest challenge of this season,” coach Erik Spoelstra said of potentially closing the Celtics out. “It will be the toughest thing we have to do up to this point.”

Boston’s best chance to win came on the final possession of regulation, when a botched pick-and-roll led to Paul Pierce isolated against LeBron James.

“Yeah, we didn't execute the play,” coach Doc Rivers admitted after the game. “I’ll just leave it at that. Ended up leaving Paul on an island. It’s a play we’ve run several times, and we just didn’t execute it.  Was supposed to be a pick-and-roll with a flare and none of it happened, which was unusual for us. But it happened.”

The Celtics led after the first, second and third quarters, but made several untimely and unsightly turnovers and there were no heroics from Rajon Rondo, who was severely limited by his injured left elbow.

The Heat scored 28 points off 18 turnovers and shut down the Celtics in the extra period. James and Chris Bosh opened up overtime with a pair of buckets and Boston didn’t score until the 1:55 mark when Kevin Garnett made a pair of free throws.

Garnett, who Spoelstra likened to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar after Game 3, withered on Monday night. The plan was the same: get him 20 good shots, but he wasn’t aggressive on the offensive end less than 48 hours after a dominant performance.

He finished 1-for-10 from the field (seven points) with 10 rebounds and five fouls. Bosh, who was criticized endlessly for his play two nights prior and for admitting that his nerves got the best of him, had perhaps the best performance of his playoff career given the enormity of the game.

“You just keep playing basketball, you know what I’m saying, you just stay in the game and just keep playing basketball no matter what happens,” he said. “You just have to believe in yourself and have confidence because nobody else is gonna give it to you, you know, you just have to go take it.”

Bosh totaled 20 points and 12 rebounds, a majority of which came after halftime. His tip-in with 24 seconds remaining and Miami leading 93-90 essentially assured victory.

It hasn’t always worked and it won’t always going forward, but James, Bosh and Dwyane Wade were really all the Heat needed. The trio had 83 points on 28-for-63 shooting (44.4%). The rest of the team was 7-for-16 with a mere 15 points, 10 rebounds and eight turnovers.

Pierce, Ray Allen and Delonte West were the bright spots for the Celtics, but they couldn’t match Miami play-for-play. Pierce had 27 points and eight rebounds on 50% shooting, Allen finished with 17 points after a slow start and West (10 points) had another double-digit game off the bench.

Early Intensity

The Celtics came out of the gate with great intensity, but the Heat weathered the storm and didn’t allow the home team to ever get too high. Boston led by 11 at one point, but the lead never seemed that large and Miami had more passion from the start of the second half on.

“I don’t know. I thought they were ready to play,” Rivers said. “We came out and played terrific. But, honestly, I don’t know. I thought, coming out of the halftime, I called the one timeout; I just didn’t see the same energy that we had to start the game. And so I was concerned at that point.”

Boston’s early lead evaporated quickly, turning the game into one that featured nine lead changes and eight ties.

The Boards

Despite being a force in Game 3, Joel Anthony was nonexistent, but the Heat still dominated the glass. Miami had a +17 rebounding differential, with Bosh and James (26 combined rebounds) almost matching Boston’s total (28).

The Heat did a tremendous job of tipping rebounds to each other, using well-timed jumps and their athleticism to beat out the older and less agile big men of Boston.

Miami’s job on the defensive glass was vital, allowing just three offensive rebounds. The Heat had 10 second-chance points, while the Celtics laid a goose egg.

The Paint Matters

The game was physical and the Heat were better prepared. More than half (51.8%) of their shot attempts came in the paint despite their lack of a dominant post threat. James and Wade attacked the basket endlessly and successfully and Bosh used good position to convert opportunistic scores.

It wasn’t just that Miami held a 48-32 edge in points in the paint, but that only 40% of Boston’s attempts came close to the basket. Rondo took just seven shots, his elbow limiting his driving ability, and Shaquille O’Neal was once again a non-factor.

Jermaine O’Neal played well in the first quarter, but Doc Rivers favored a smaller lineup (Jeff Green and Glen Davis) a majority of the time. The Celtics are still waiting for Davis to have a significant impact this postseason.

A Story of Quarters

The Celtics were red-hot offensively in the first quarter, especially the opening four minutes, but turned stagnant thereafter.

They scored 31 points in the first frame, but added just 59 more over the final 41 minutes.

Boston went on an 11-0 run near the end of the third quarter to give themselves a 73-65 lead, but Miami did what championship-caliber teams do and went on a mini-run of their own to trim the lead to just 73-69 heading into the fourth.

Although they didn’t win in regulation, the Heat won the fourth quarter (17-13) and held to Celtics to just five points through the first nine minutes of the period. Boston then “exploded” for eight points in a little more than two minutes to at least ensure overtime.