The Heat just didn’t have enough firepower to keep up with the Celtics last night as they only shot 39.2% from the floor. You can’t blame D-Wade for this loss as he led the way for the Heat last night with 31 points, 8 rebounds, 10 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocked shots. Mario Chalmers had a solid game off the bench for the Heat last night with 20 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist. No one else on the Heat scored more than 8 points last night. The Heat lose this series 4-1 to the Celtics and one has to wonder if last night was Dwyane Wade’s last game as a member of the Miami Heat. Only time will tell on that one.

Dwyane Wade turned in a super human effort today to keep the Heat alive in this series. D-Wade led the way for the Heat in this game with 46 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. The Heat outscored the Celtics 30-15 in the 4th quarter and they shot 50% from the floor as they seemed to want the game more than the Celtics did. The Heat even outrebounded them 43-35 on there way to a huge win at home. Quentin Richardson helped out D-Wade with 20 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist and 3 steals in this game. Michael Beasley pitched in with 15 points and 5 rebounds. The Heat are still down 3-1 in this series but at least they showed signs of life on Sunday.

The Heat shot 50.6% from the floor in this game but they left Paul Pierce open for a shot at the end of the game and he made them pay for it. Dwyane Wade rolled his ankle late in this game but he still finished up with 34 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocked shots. Michael Beasley pitched in with 16 points and 6 rebounds in this game. Dorell Wright filled up the stat sheet in game #3 for the Heat with 15 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists. Udonis Haslem (10 points) and Mario Chalmers (10 points) both help out offensively in this game but the Heat fell just a tad short. The Heat are now down 3-0 in this series.

The Heat only shot 38.2% from the floor last night and they were outrebounded 50-33 as they had no chance last night in Boston despite the suspension of K.G. Dwyane Wade led the way for the Heat last night with 29 points, 2 rebounds and 5 assists last night. Michael Beasley pitched in with 13 points and 7 rebounds in 27 minutes in this game. Backup point guard Mario Chalmers provided a boost to the Heat when he was on the court with 13 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists in 18 minutes on the court last night. The Heat are now down 0-2 in this series as it shifts to Miami over the weekend.

Kevin Garnett of the Celtics has been suspended for game #2 tomorrow night in Boston. He won’t play tomorrow night because of an elbow that he threw at Quentin Richardson of the Heat. Richardson was fined $25,000 bucks for his role in the altercation but he will get to play in game #2 for the Heat. This is big for the Heat as the Celtics will start Rasheed Wallace in Garnett’s spot and he isn’t near the player either K.G. is or that Wallace was himself just a couple of years ago.

The Heat were leading this game 66-64 after three quarters. It’s too bad they forgot they had to play a 4th quarter as the Celtics outscored them 21-10 to pull away earlier tonight. The Heat only shot 39.7% from the floor tonight and it’s hard to win that way. Dwyane Wade led the way for the Heat in this game with 26 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocked shots. Quentin Richardson pitched in with 15 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. D-Wade and Q-Rich were the only two Heat players to score in double figures tonight and it’s hard to win that way in the NBA. The Celtics are up 1-0 in this series.

This will be a interesting first round matchup as the best player on the court plays for the Heat (Dwyane Wade) but the next best four players are on the Celtics who have home court advantage. Here is a breakdown of this series:

Point Guard: The Miami Heat had trouble at this position all year long before settling on Carlos Arroyo as the starter. The team took off with Arroyo at point guard but D-Wade usually still brings the ball up the court and he runs the offense. Arroyo played in 72 games (35 starts) for the Heat this season and he averaged 22.0 minutes, 6.1 points, 1.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. He will likely have huge issues trying to defend Rajon Rondo in this series.

Rajon Rondo is they guy who makes the Celtics go both offensively and defensively. He played in 81 games (all starts) for the Celtics this season and he averaged 36.6 minutes, 13.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, 9.8 assists and 2.3 steals per game. Rondo is just too fast for Arroyo both offensively and defensively so this will be a mis-match.

EDGE: CELTICS

Shooting Guard: Dwyane Wade is one of the best five players on the planet and he will have little problem abusing Ray Allen in this series. D-Wade played in 77 games (all starts) for the Heat this season and he averaged 36.3 minutes, 26.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.8 steals per game. Wade will be getting to the basket at will so the big men of the Celtics better be willing to help Allen on D. Wade will be audtioning for free agency in the playoffs so look out Celtics.

Ray Allen still is a solid ballplayer. He can still drain a open jumper but he is not a good defender. Allen played in 80 games (all starts) for the Celtics this season and he averaged 35.2 minutes, 16.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. Allen has to make D-Wade work on defense or he’s really going to go off. I think Allen will get his far share of points in this series.

EDGE: HUGE FOR THE HEAT

Small Forward: Quentin Richardson is going to have his hands full trying to deal with Paul Pierce. Richardson played in 76 games (75 starts) for the Heat this season and he averaged 27.4 minutes, 8.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. He can get hot from the outside at times and the Heat hope that Q-Rich will make Pierce work on defense.

Paul Pierce has been the go to man for the Celtics this season. He has played in 71 games (all starts) for the Celtics this year and he averaged 34.0 minutes, 18.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.2 steals per game. This will be a big advantage spot for the Celtics as Pierce is just a bigger and better ballplayer than Richardson is.

EDGE: CELTICS

Power Forward: Michael Beasley of the Heat is more of a small forward playing the power forward position. He played in 78 games (all starts) for the Heat this season and he averaged 29.8 minutes, 14.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.0 steal per game. I see Beasley playing like a small forward in this series trying to outrun Kevin Garnett and make him guard him outside.

This isn’t the same old K.G. as he is starting to play like a old man. He just doesn’t have the hops he used to but I think he will be plenty motivated with the playoffs here. Garnett played in 69 games (all starts) this year for the Celtics and he averaged 29.9 minutes, 14.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. The Celtics would be smart to get the ball down low to Garnett where he will have a height advantage on Beasley.

EDGE: CELTICS

Center: Jermaine O’Neal is a crafty veteran who knows all of the tricks. He played in 70 games (all starts) for the Heat this season and he averaged 28.4 minutes, 13.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.4 blocked shots per game. The Heat need to be aggressive on offense and get the ball down low to O’Neal in an effort to get the bigs of the Celtics into foul trouble.

Kendrick Perkins has been outstanding this season for the Celtics. He does all the dirty work around the basket. Perkins played in 78 games (all starts) for the Celtics this year and he averaged 27.6 minutes, 10.1 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 1.7 blocked shots per game this year. The Celtics don’t draw many plays for the big man as he gets most of his points off effort.

EDGE: EVEN

BENCH: The Heat don’t have a deep bench but they will play what they have against the Celtics. Udonis Haslem is the best player the Heat have coming off the bench. He is a hustle player doing all of the little things that help teams win ballgames. Haslem played in 78 games (0 starts) for the Heat last season and he averaged 27.9 minutes, 9.9 points, 8.1 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. Backup point guard Mario Chalmers will also likely get a lot of P.T. for the Heat in this series. He played in 73 games (22 starts) for the Heat this season and he averaged 24.8 minutes, 7.1 points, 1.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Dorell Wright is probably the second most athletic player on the Heat’s roster so he will likely get a chance to run around a bit in this series. Wright played in 72 games (1 start) for the Heat this season and he averaged 20.8 minutes, 7.1 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. Look for SG/SF James Jones and C Joel Anthony to also get some P.T. in this series but I doubt either of them will make a big impact.

The Celtics’ bench is loaded with talent. It all starts with the feisty PF/C Rasheed Wallace. Wallace played in 79 games (13 starts) for the Celtics this season and he averaged 22.5 minutes, 9.0 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 1.0 steal per game. He might be starting to slow down a bit but I have a feeling that the bright lights of the playoffs will invigorate him. Michael Finley came over to the Celtics late in the season and he showed enough for them to give him some P.T. in this series. Glen “Big Baby” Davis got a late start to the season but he will also likely pick his game up a bit in the playoffs. Nate Robinson, Tony Allen, Marquis Daniels and Shelden Williams could all help out some in this series if needed by the Celtics.

EDGE: CELTICS

COACH: Erik Spoelstra is a head coach on the rise. He learned well coaching under Pat Riley and Stan Van Gundy before graduating to head coach. He led the Heat to a 47-35 record (57.3%) this season. He now has a career record in Miami of 90-74 (54.9%) during the regular season and he is 3-4 in the playoffs. He will be able to match X’s and O’s with Doc Rivers.

Doc Rivers led the ancient Celtics to a 50-32 (61%) record during the regular season this year. He is 280-212 (56.9%) during his six years as head coach of the Celtics during the regular season and he is 26-21 (55.3%) in his post season career leading them to a NBA Championship in 2007-08.

EDGE: CELTICS

PREDICTION: The Celtics have a few mis-matches to exploit in this series. I still see the Heat winning two games in this series. I’m taking the Celtics in 6 games.

The Heat rested a lot of players last night so they had to stuggle to beat the Nets last night. But, the Heat did play good defense holding the Nets to 36.3% shooting from the floor which was a big reason for the victory. Michael Beasley led the way for the Heat last night with 25 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocked shots. Mario Chalmers did a solid job of running the offense when he was on the court as he finished up with 15 points, 2 rebounds and 7 assists. James Jones and Dorell Wright each pitched in with 11 points apiece last night. The Heat finish the season with a 47-35 record this year and they will open up against the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA Playoffs this weekend.

The Heat really had to battle last night to win in Philly. They shot 55.6% from the floor and they outrebounded the Sixers 38-30 and still only beat the Sixers by two points. Dwyane Wade led the way for the Heat as usual last night with 30 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Quentin Richardson played the tough guy last night as he finished up with 15 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists. Michael Beasley (15 points, 6 rebounds) and Carlos Arroyo (15 points, 2 rebounds and 7 assists) also had solid games for the Heat in this contest. Udonis Haslem and Dorell Wright each pitched in with 12 points apiece. The Heat are now 46-35 on the season which has them in the #5 spot in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. That is where the Heat want to stay as they think they match up with Atlanta much better than Boston.

The Heat shot 52.4% from the floor tonight and it helped them get a nice road win in New York. Dwyane Wade led the way for the Heat tonight with 32 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Michael Beasley also had a solid game backing up D-Wade with 16 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Quentin Richardson (14 points), Udonis Haslem (14 points), Dorell Wright (12 points) and Carlos Arroyo (12 points) all helped out offensively as the Heat outran the Knicks tonight. This was a big win for the Heat who have pulled into a tie with the Bucks for the #5 seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. The Heat are now 45-35 on the season.