Boston vs Miami TUESDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2011 8:00 PM ET

[Dr Cracker]

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Celtics-Heat Preview
With a long offseason behind them, the Miami Heat wasted no time showing they feel no lingering effects from their NBA finals loss.
The Boston Celtics also have championship aspirations, but having a healthy Paul Pierce would make that goal much more attainable.
The Heat's home opener Tuesday night will be the first matchup between these teams since last season's Eastern Conference semifinals, and the Celtics hope to have Pierce ready.
After losing to Dallas in six games in the finals, the Heat had plenty of time to think about their missed opportunity during the NBA lockout. Miami got another reminder of what could have been as it watched the Mavericks raise their championship banner before Sunday's opener in Dallas.
The Heat, though, built a 15-point lead after 12 minutes and led by as many as 35 in a 105-94 victory. LeBron James finished with 37 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, while Dwyane Wade added 26 points, eight boards and six assists.
"We tried to play aggressive," James said. "We're a focused team. We had a great training camp. We came in with the same mindset we had at practice, use our speed and play with mental focus."
Celtics coach Doc Rivers would like to see his team play that way for an entire 48 minutes after it was outscored 34-23 in the first quarter of Sunday's 106-104 road loss to the New York Knicks.
Boston trailed by as many as 17 points, but led by 10 in the fourth quarter before squandering its opener.
"I thought we were as soft as you could be in the first quarter and then I thought we joined in to the 2011-12 season, and from that point on I was pretty happy with the way we played," Rivers said. "I thought we competed well."
Rajon Rondo had a brilliant game with 31 points, 13 assists, five rebounds and five steals, and Ray Allen (20 points) and Kevin Garnett (15 with eight rebounds) were solid, but Pierce was missed as he sat in street clothes with a bruised right heel.
No. 34 likely would have taken the final shot that Garnett missed as time expired.
If Pierce is able to go Tuesday, Rivers said he would come off the bench since he's had limited practice time.
The nine-time All-Star scored a team-best 19.6 points per game as the Celtics fell in five games to Miami in last season's playoffs.
Rondo averaged 10.0 points with 7.6 assists during the series, playing the final two-plus games with a dislocated left elbow. That didn't help with Miami's stars clicking, as Wade scored 30.2 points per game against Boston, while James averaged 28.0 with 8.2 boards.
"I got the utmost respect for that team," James said of the Celtics after the series. "They're the reason why (James, Wade and Chris Bosh) came together, is because of what they did, that blueprint they had in '08 when they all came together."
Bosh struggled with foul trouble Sunday and had just four points on 2-of-9 shooting.
Miami lost its last two home games last season - Games 2 and 6 against Dallas - after opening the 2011 playoffs 9-0 at AmericanAirlines Arena.
Including the postseason, Miami has won four straight at home versus Boston. The Heat snapped an eight-game skid in this matchup with a 100-77 victory in the Celtics' last regular-season visit April 10.

NBA Playoff 2011:Miami Heat vs Boston Celtics
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAV4aI8dch4[/youtube]

[BadMofoPimp]

Well done game thread, but no pics of the Heat players or Cheerleaders?

[EscapoTHB]

Pierce should be back for this, no?

Should be a good test. A lot better than the Mavs were.

Want to see how our new offense does against that system

[BadMofoPimp]

Ok, thanks for the cheerleader update, nice!

[DefenseWins]

I don't think Pierce will be in this game, but I am interested to see how Rondo will be against the Heat. I hope he doesn't get in the paint so easily like he did against the Knicks. The Heat would also make Rondo shoot, and Rondo seems comfortable shooting now especially if Pierce is out, so that'll be interesting too.

But I think Heat got this...

[Tim_Hardawayy]

Kudos for the effort although the formatting for the thread is confusing, you should either put the "vs" on its own line or list all the Celtics and Heat players together.

Let's not suck.

[DWadeno3]

Yeah I heard Pierce will most likely play in this game. Since you're new Dr. Cracker, you don't know that we usually have the same guy post GTs until we lose a game. Nonetheless, this is a good GT.

[BadMofoPimp]

[WD]

I am pulling 4 U Miami

[Pimpwerx]

Time to beat these Boston crumb-bums into the retirement home. We need to remind them that their legs only got older during the lockout, and that we're now the high-water mark in the conference. Our Big3 will smite their Big4. The season of redemption is only starting. Glad we're us and not them. Let's go Heat! PEACE.

[OtW]

So the "I hope Wade gets injured for what he did to Rondo in the Play Offs" bandwagon has begun .

[Lord Hades]

I'd really like to see us run these ****ers off the court. Open the home season the right way.

Let's Go Heat!

[LEIF]

if game one of this season meant anything we are going to see a heavy dose of Rajon Rondo. a healthy one too. I am interested to see what different looks we throw at him to contain him.

the tempo is huge in this game, we need to get out and RUN RUN RUN. everything starts with defense.

I see another big night for the Big 3 and a more extended look at Shane Battier.

[mh_3]

I'm eager to watch how Chalmers/Cole (and maybe a little bit of Wade/Bron/Battier) handle Rondo.

[orangeparka]

Can't wait for this game. Hopefully Chalmers will play well like last game and shut down Rondo.

[TRG]

I hope Bosh gets his confidence back this game he was a complete non-factor against Dallas.

[Akshan]

I hope Bosh gets his confidence back this game he was a complete non-factor against Dallas.

AND WE DESTROYED DALLAS we just need 2 of the Big Three to play normal and now with a better bench we will be even better I hope Paul Pierce plays I wanna really face the Boston Celtics .. even though seeing LeBron **** on Sasha will make me laugh lol

LET'S GO HEAT

[MaliBrah]

light em up and send a msg ... the heat aint playinn around!!!!

[Pimpwerx]

I actually expect to see a lot more of Cole than last game. He should be much better defending Rondo than Rio. If it's anything like last year, Rondo is gonna either put some quick fouls on Rio, or blow by him consistently, forcing our defense to rotate off their shooters. But with no Pierce, I'm not worried. He's still their best weapon late in games. PEACE.

[carbine23]

Cant wait! I want a Rondo vs Cole showdown! lol