Game 3 a reminder that Celtics are still alive

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• Jones brings high intensity
• LeBron's era just beginning
• Mutual dislike front and center
• LeBron's must go through Celtics
• Heat, Celtics meant for each other
• Heat-Celtics season photos
• Heat Dancers photo gallery 
• Get all your Heat video here 

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BOSTON — It is time for fear.

The Miami Heat need it. They must embrace it. They have to revel in it.

For The Big Three and their teammates, the real danger behind the Boston Celtics' 97-81 beatdown Saturday night was not the loss itself. Boston is too good a team not to win at least one game in this series, and so a victory at home was to be expected.

The real danger lingers behind the outcome, past the final score. There rests the lurking reminder of just how capable Miami is of swinging from sensational to discombobulated (evidenced by LeBron's 6 of 16 shooting and meager 15-point night); and the stalking fact Boston is well trained at finding ways to win when all seems lost.

"This is it," Kevin Garnett said after scoring a season-high 28 points. "We figure this is all in."

This week, while the Celtics were preparing to put it all out there, the Los Angeles Lakers showed the greatest of teams can disintegrate in the face of "trust issues," rumors of off-court conflict and a lack of toughness in the face of a worthy challenger.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, the Celtics dug deep and, in doing so, offered a sobering reality check to fans on South Beach who were already licking their chops over an increasingly easy road to a championship.

The Lakers may be on the ropes, and the Chicago Bulls may not strike fear into the hearts of Heat fans. But Boston is alive, and they very much should be.

Boston will not go easily. There is too much pride soaked into that Celtics green. Too much experience among this band of aging greats. Too much coaching talent urging them on.

Now and always, Boston has been about grit and substance rather than power and flash. With the Lakers crumbling and Boston holding firm, it's looking like grit and substance are the more lasting qualities.

That's part of the reason Boston had an edge over Miami all season, even as the Heat had no problem with Kobe Bryant and his glitzy group of Los Angeles Lakers.

It's why the Celtics remain the Heat's biggest weakness.

And it's why Miami must play like champions and seize a 3-1 series lead in Game 4 Monday.

Fail to do that, and they risk déjà vu all over again against a team tough and savvy enough to make them pay.

Suddenly, it could be Boston on the rebound. It could be LeBron facing the specter of another colossal disappointment against the Celtics. It could be the Heat testing their newfound growth in the most trying of circumstances against the most formidable of opponents.

"That was a championship-caliber response," Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said after the game. "No other way to put it."

Which brings us to the need to be afraid.

All season long, it has been the darker of human emotions that have lit a fire under this Heat team and driven them to their best.

It was only after the Heat's 9-8 start to the regular season induced panic that the turnaround began.

It was only when LeBron embraced the world's anger — saying he'd also embraced the role of villain while on the court — that he channeled his incredible talents to their fullest.

It was only when the Heat accepted they were alone — hated and reviled outside Miami — that they became the band of brothers their head coach keeps talking about.

And it was only when Miami endured the giddy exuberance of their enemies during a five-game losing streak in February and March that they emerged even stronger — and from there played their best basketball of the season.

Now is the time for fear. There is no reason to wait until Game 5, no reason to let the Celtics do what they do best and sneak back into this series.

Miami must feel the worry, right now and through every minute, until Game 4 has ended. They must bathe in the pressure while embracing the moment and all it can mean to channel the fear of failure into a Game 4 win.

History is littered with great men channeling their anxiety. Winston Churchill's growing fear of the German threat turned him into the 20th century's greatest leader. Ernest Hemingway's fear of failure — of squandering his gift the way his friend F. Scott Fitzgerald squandered his own — pushed him to the highest reaches of American letters.

Fear doesn't have to be a weakness. It can be the fiercest tool to sharpen the senses, rouse the spirit and impart a sense of the moment on any man.

So, Miami must be afraid. Afraid of letting the Celtics back into this series. Afraid of another dismal performance at the Garden by LeBron James, one like his 15-point night Saturday or his 15-point failure last year against Boston in a soul-crushing Game 5 loss for his Cleveland Cavaliers team.

Miami must be afraid the tangled takedown by Dwyane Wade of Rondo on Saturday was just the spark needed to wake that old Celtics pride.

That particular concern came when the two players got tied up, Rondo hit the floor and his arm grotesquely went the wrong way. His elbow was dislocated. A good chunk of those watching thought the play was dirty (though I, for one, did not).

"It's a physical game," Wade said later. "I'm not a dirty player. It's physical. Everyone falls to the ground. Everyone gets hurt. People get up."

Either way, Rondo was clearly done for the night, probably the rest of the postseason.

Until he suddenly wasn't.

They popped the elbow back in and, still hurt, Rondo returned.

When he did, so did the Garden's sense of utter and total confidence. The crowed erupted. His team, already up, did too.

"He's showing a lot of heart, a lot of grit," Garnett said. "We see it. It doesn't go unseen. We're following that lead."

Yes, Miami should be afraid — of all these things, and therefore what can happen if they also lose Game 4.

Addressing the unique challenges Boston presents to Wade — who has now lost 11 straight games in Boston — the Heat star explained it. In his answer is a reminder that the Celtics must be crushed by anyone looking to unseat them.

"This is a championship team," Wade said. "They play with that championship DNA they have . . . We come back Monday and try to do it again and learn from our mistakes and not let them outplay us. That can't happen."

It will if Chris Bosh continues to vanish in big moments. He scored only six points on 1 of 6 shooting and pulled down only five rebounds.

"Chris, when he's struggling, he has to find other ways to be effective," Wade said. "As basketball players, we all struggle. But you have to find some other way to be effective, especially in the playoffs. We're not worried about Chris, not whatsoever, and hopefully he'll learn from it."

And what about LeBron? Is he ready to learn from it, too? He seemed as quiet at the podium after the game as he was during it.

He scored those 15 points on a night in which his presence was hardly felt. With Wade at his side, the self-appointed Chosen One is on the verge of his own era, but he must first rise to meet the challenge Boston presents if he's to claim it.

He must be afraid enough of what can happen to make sure it doesn't do so immediately — meaning Monday.

There are ghosts in sports that can haunt the greatest of athletes, and the Garden is for LeBron James both a haunted house and a pointed reminder. This is where he has been sent packing from the playoffs at the moment of his greatest failure.

He has felt that shame, and after taking a 2-0 series lead this season against that very team several things are happening.

Shaquille O'Neal has returned to the Celtics lineup. Kevin Garnett has found his rhythm and finally played a game in this series like a future Hall of Famer. Paul Pierce added 27 points and Rondo, in returning from injury and offering a burst of energy and Celtics pride with wizardly one-armed play, may have woken something in Boston that's been missing since Kendrick Perkins was traded.

But all of this can be dealt with. The Heat are incredibly capable. They are poised to cast aside this great challenger. Wade is one of the finest players in the game, and LeBron is its most talented.

If this year has taught them anything, it's to summon the moment and feed off the emotions stemming from it.

So, embrace the fear, Miami, and put Boston away Monday.

Panic turned a horrific November into an incredible December. Hate eventually made LeBron James into a player undaunted by the boos. And the world's loathing turned the Big Three and a group of spare parts into a team with a true bond.

Time for fear to finally get them past Boston once and for all.

You can follow Bill Reiter on Twitter.