Heat rise thanks to Celtics demise

BOSTON -- You'll have to go somewhere else to read about the Heat's courageous, thrilling, defining playoff victory inside the Garden.

Here, there's just the truth.

The Celtics died Monday night.

Kevin Garnett. Rajon Rondo's elbow. Ray Allen. Big Baby. Shaq.

Even Doc Rivers' late-game strategic genius gave way to a baffling final possession in regulation that doomed the Celtics as much as a critical missed lay-up by Rajon Rondo in the fourth quarter and Kevin Garnett's horrific imitation of the Big Ticket.

The Heat might very well win a title this year, and they will have earned a celebration on that day for overcoming injuries, adversity, egos and hype -- and even for battering has-beens like the Celtics.

But Monday night, in their 98-90 overtime win against the Boston Celtics, all they earned was a much-needed victory at the dangerous lair of a no-longer dangerous team.

"It was a huge game," LeBron said. "I looked at it as one of the biggest games of my career."

To be sure, there were basketball moments Monday that Miami and its biggest star should be celebrated for.

Erik Spoelstra had the foresight to match up Joel Anthony against Garnett. Chris Bosh shook off an awful 1-of-6 start to finish strong. LeBron posted an 11-point fourth quarter.

Part of that fourth quarter included a clutch three-point shot that was one of the biggest of his career. And a short time later, with the score knotted, the Celtics confused and time ticking to zero, LeBron locked up Paul Pierce and forced a bad shot that sent the game to overtime.

But history is unlikely to note that between those plays, LeBron turned the ball over in a manner that should have further burnished his reputation as a choker had Boston been able to take advantage of it.

One moment, LeBron had the ball. The next, he simply delivered it back to Boston. After a timeout, Pierce had a chance to make him pay.

If Pierce hits that shot, you're reading and listening to more talk about The King's cowardice in the face of trying times -- not the swell of celebratory reaction cascading across the country.

That final possession occurred only because of LeBron's befuddling play. And it's not noteworthy simply because it happened against a team that couldn't capitalize.

"I had a timeout to kick myself, tell myself you can't turn the ball over in that situation," LeBron said. "D-Wade came to me, told me what he thought I should have done, but there was still time on the clock and I had to let it go."

Once more, this is where the end of the Celtics saved LeBron and his team by being unable to save themselves.

On that final possession in regulation, Allen and Garnett seemed to get confused about who was supposed to set the screen. The clock wound down too quickly. Pierce, with LeBron glued to him, put up that bad shot.

And so the Heat marched into an overtime they didn't entirely deserve and took a 3-1 stranglehold on the series because Boston turned out to be an unworthy adversary.

In a night of Celtic missteps, Rondo missed a lay-up with 1:11 left that would have put the Celtics ahead. Garnett might as well have abandoned his team with a 1-of-10 night in which he scored only seven points and the Celtics forfeited their place among the conference's most formidable teams.

The Celtics were out-rebounded 45-28, a galling discrepancy that speaks to weakness and ineptitude -- and to the fact Boston should never have been in an overtime game in the first place.  

They featured a one-armed point guard, a true scoring threat (Jeff Green) still so awkward with his teammates and lacking trust from his coach he played only 17 minutes and versions of Shaq and Big Baby that combined for four points and zero rebounds.

And Allen, usually so reliable, shot 5 of 12 and seemed unable to connect when moment after moment called for one more big shot from Boston's big shot-maker.

Those shots, like the Celtics' stamina and strength, were simply gone.

"It's frustrating because we had so many opportunities," Rivers said.

There were a myriad of truths buried in the rubble Monday from the collapse of the Celtics as we know them. Yes, Miami's Big Three stepped up. They combined for 83 points and 35 rebounds.

Bosh went on to post a 20-point, 12-rebound double-double and LeBron was mostly the clutch player so many of us doubt he can be in big moments on the way to 35 points. Wade added 28 of his own points.

With this win, the Heat seem all but certain to have earned the right to face either Atlanta or Chicago in the Eastern Conference finals. And when that time comes, I wouldn't bet against the Big Three bringing themselves glory the way so many talking heads will insist they did against Boston Monday.

But it's a false positive. The Heat have greatness in them, but it hasn't emerged in heroic fashion. Not yet.

Sitting at home, watching this on television and luxuriating in the warm narrative that LeBron and the Heat were Jordan- and Bulls-esque might feel right.

But it's still wrong.

Even LeBron touched on the other side of things after the game.

"We didn't shoot the ball particularly well," he said.

He's right.

LeBron was 12 of 28. Wade was 8 of 18. Not exactly the stuff of legends.

The real takeaway Monday was on the loser: This is the end of this particular Boston Celtics era.

On Monday, as the Garden thundered and rocked with tension and hope, it was the Miami Heat who emerged winners only because it was the Boston Celtics who withered in the face of their fans' frenzied cries for one last run.

You can follow Bill Reiter on Twitter.