The Big Lead

Heat Come Back, Collapse, Choke, Win in Overtime Despite Rajon Rondo's Best Game Ever

By Stephen Douglas

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After blowing their lead, Boston responded like the 2008 NBA champions that they are/were. Heck, they had a chance to win in the final minute. Fortunately, it was LeBron who had the last chance to choke in regulation as he settled for a 21-foot fade-away over Rondo as time expired.

In overtime, Rondo scored all 12 of Boston’s points. Meanwhile, LeBron and Dwyane Wade closed it out from the free throw line. (More on that below.)

As for Rondo, it was a ridiculously hot game that saw him not only doing his usual Rondo stuff, but also hitting jumpers. He was 16-24 from the field, including 2-2 from 3 in OT and hit 10 of his 12 free throws. Rondo was the only player on either team to play all 53 minutes and he finished with 44 points, 8 rebounds and 10 assists. If was a glimpse of Rondo’s ridiculous ceiling if he can improve his shot.

The final huge play was Wade scoring over Kevin Garnett. Wade finished with 23 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks. Mario Chalmers kind of kept Miami in the game early as he had 22, 4 and 6. LeBron had 34, 10 and 7.

Now for the damning free throw counts. Miami shot 47 free throws – of which, LeBron shot 24 – while Boston shot just 29. Basically, it was the greatest conspiracy since David Stern rigged the draft lottery a few hours earlier. If you’re keeping score at home, the Hornets winning the draft lottery was the biggest NBA-related conspiracy since Tuesday night when the refs screwed the Thunder – and you’ll have to go all the way back to Game 1 of the Miami-Boston series to find a fix as glaring as that game. I’m honestly surprised you people even still watch this sport.

Game 3 is in Boston on Friday night. Don’t worry, people are already talking about how the league won’t let the Celtics lose game 3 at home and fall down 0-3 in the Conference Final. Sometimes you have to fix a game the opposite way so that people won’t know you’re fixing a whole series the other way. It’s really quite genius.