Celtics 93, Heat 91 (OT)
BOSTON -- The Eastern Conference finals are all even.
The Boston Celtics, after blowing an 18-point lead in regulation, outscored the Heat 5-2 in a rock fight of an overtime and beat Miami 93-91 to even the best-of-seven series at 2-2 Sunday night.
Game 5 is Tuesday night in Miami. The home team has won all four games, which is also the case in the Western Conference finals.
Rajon Rondo (15 points, 15 assists) hit a floater with 2:34 left and then scored the only point the rest of the way (1-for-2 from the line with 21.1 seconds left). Dwyane Wade missed a wide-open 3-pointer at the buzzer.
The Celtics played the final 4:22 without Paul Pierce, who fouled out, while the Heat lost LeBron James to his sixth foul with 1:51 left.
Pierce scored 23 points and Kevin Garnett had 17 points and 14 rebounds for Boston. James scored 29 points and Wade 20 for Miami.
The teams combined to shoot 2-for-14 from the floor in the overtime.
James hit a 3-pointer to tie the game with 37.5 seconds left in regulation and then drew an offensive foul down low by Garnett with 21.1 left. As he has done in the past, though, James passed up the last-second shot, instead getting the ball to Udonis Haslem in a non-scoring position. Haslem's wild shot had no chance.
The Celtics, who scored just 12 points in the third quarter, went more than 6 1/2 minutes scoreless bridging the third and fourth quarters as the Heat went from 12 down and into the lead, taking their first lead of the night on a Norris Cole drive with 8:23 left.
The Heat, stung for 29 baskets in the paint in Game 3, made a lineup change, with Joel Anthony replacing Ronny Turiaf.
"They were able to get probably the easiest buckets they've been able to get all playoffs, particularly in the paint and at the rim," Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said.
The move did nothing to deter the Celtics, who came roaring out of the opening tap to take a 21-6 lead in the first 6:43. All five starters got in on the scoring parade.
James didn't score until there was 5:37 left in the quarter, and his first two points were actually put in by the Celtics. His layup came off the rim, and Garnett was there to grab the rebound. It appeared Garnett was bumped by his teammate, Brandon Bass, and the ball went in.
Down by 15, the Heat ran off nine straight points, a run started by a 3-pointer by Shane Battier from the left corner. That got the Boston lead down to six, but the comeback was brief, as the Celtics quickly regained control.
The lead was 11 after the first quarter and 14 at the half, with Miami scoring the last four points of the second quarter.
Rondo was charged with a technical foul with 1:09 left in the half when he appeared to have kicked his leg out at Battier as the players were on the floor.
The Celtics, 5-for-17 from 3-point range in Game 3, were 7-for-16 in the first half of Game 4.
NOTES: Asked Saturday about the still-absent Chris Bosh, Spoelstra said, "I'm not thinking about Chris today -- I'm not. He's not on my mind. And I love you, Chris, but I'm focused on Sunday. That's where all of my energies are focused right now." Pregame Sunday, Spoelstra said, "Everybody's ready to go," which brought up Bosh again. "Not Chris," he said. "Do I have to start off every presser with that? OK, nothing has changed from this morning." ... James came in having scored at least 30 points and grabbed at least eight rebounds in each of the first three games, making him the fifth player ever to do that in the first three games of a conference final. ... Celtics coach Doc Rivers on Tiger Woods' chip-in birdie on the 16th hole Sunday: "It was unbelievable. I was watching. I was trying to leave my house to get here. It delayed me for a couple minutes. That's fun; that's really cool." ... A scan of the crowd during a second-quarter timeout showed several New England Patriots, capped by coach Bill Belichick, who got a wild ovation.
