Don’t call it a come back. After the Nets swept the Heat 4-0 during the regular season, the flaming ball team managed to show a little redemption in Tuesday’s night game.
LeBron James and Ray Allen both were the top two scorers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series. James scored 22 points with Allen adding on a strong 19 points winning 107-86 over the Brooklyn Nets. Though, this is the Heat’s first win during their fifth meeting with the Nets, don’t expect it to be their last given the show they put on to achieve this win.
Head coach Erik Spoelstra said at the end of the game, “It’s one, but I like the energy, the activity.”
For a team who hasn’t played in eight days sure looked in perfect rhythm with each other. The Heat had a 24-9 run in the third quarter making it hard for the Nets to come back in full force. Not only did the Heat make it hard for the Nets to come back, but they made it easy for the Nets big three starters to take the night off early to recuperate for the next game.
“It was great that we were able to come out the way we did after being off eight days,” James said. “We got a lot of work in. We had eight days off of not playing a basketball game but Spo got us in the gym. We got each other in the gym. We made each other accountable throughout the layoff and it proved tonight.”
Chris Bosh scored 15 points with 11 rebounds, Dwyane Wade finished with 14 points and Mario Chalmers had 12 for Miami. These points scored averaged at least one regular-season win against every team except Brooklyn. However, lets leave the past behind us, and focus on the present.
The Heat has had their run-ins with former Celtic players Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce during the 2012 Eastern Conference playoffs. The Heat won 101-88 in game 7 of that series. Now, the two former Celtics players are Nets, still trying to leave their mark against the Heat.
“They never go away”, Erik Spoelstra said during an interview. “Seriously. Look up the storylines the last time we played the two guys when they were in the green in the playoffs. It was the same storylines. If anybody had forgotten, that series went seven. With us, those two guys may be wearing black and silver, but there’s green underneath it somewhere, so it’s all the same to us.”
As the old saying goes, “It’s not over until the fat lady sings.” However, the real question is will she be singing in the city of Miami or Brooklyn? Only time will tell.
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