The Boston Celtics defeated the Miami Heat 85-76 on Saturday night in game one of their first round playoff series.
It certainly wasn't vintage Celtics—they trailed by 14 points with about seven minutes to play in the third period—but you don't get extra credit for style points.
The Celtics were able to summon up enough defensive intensity to essentially shut down Dwayne Wade (thank you, Tony Allen) and the rest of the Heat for the last 18 minutes of the game—enough to secure a much needed victory.
But at what cost?
With about 40 seconds to play in the game, Paul Pierce was hit in the back of the shoulder by Udonis Haslem (no foul called). Once getting rid of the ball, Pierce slumped out of bounds near the Heat bench and clutched his shoulder.
Kevin Garnett rushed over to him to call for the trainer and to make sure Pierce had enough room. Miami's thuggish Quentin Richardson also rushed over. Richardson attempted to stand over Pierce and was talking trash. Garnett took exception to this ghetto behavior and gently nudged Richardson away and started jawing back at him.
Glen Davis rushed over to help after seeing ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Tom Smith
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