44-10-8

The Celtics put up a fight against the Heat in game two last night with heart-breaking results. What was more shocking than Boston’s loss in OT to Miami was Rajon Rondo’s extraordinary effort to keep the game alive for the Celtics. Playing all 53 minutes, Rondo came out with a career-high of 44 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds. His motivation to look for opportunities to score helped Boston lead Miami by 15 in the second quarter and seven at the half. But that wasn’t enough to beat the Heat.

Although my pick for the series is still the Heat (unfortunately), Boston definitely showed Miami last night they aren’t going down without a fight. The Celtics will return to Boston for games three and four (6/1 and 6/3), and they still have the opportunity to use their home court advantage to tie the series. According to SportsStatistics, the losing or more inferior team’s lone victory usually comes in game three in almost 62% of matchups. This is understandable since the losing team is 2-0 so a sense of desperation is very much present. Let’s hope this feeling kicks in for Boston which results in them winning games three and four. The Celtics’ phenomenal efforts may be difficult to repeat after one day of rest, but perhaps the shortened recovery period and their drive from yesterday is actually better for Boston than having more time to ponder last night’s game. The Celtics need to keep their energy going, because if they lose even one game on their own court, this series is over for them.

The way I feel about Boston is also exactly the way I feel about OKC. OKC is down 2-0 and needs to win the next two games in their home court (game three tonight and game four 6/2) for the Spurs-Thunder series to stay alive. This series has been very exciting to watch so far, but if San Antonio wins a game at OKC, they will win the Western Conference for sure in my opinion. As much as I love both teams, I think (and hope) the Spurs win against the Thunder because they seem to be the only team who has a chance to beat the Heat. Because of this, I’m hoping the Spurs’ 20-game winning streak does not come to an end.