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In a game where Dwayne Wade passed Glenn Rice for the Heat’s all time field goals made, the Boston Celtics (13-4) showed the Miami Heat (9-7) why they have the best road record in the NBA.  A lot of the reason is the continued stellar play from their big men in the middle.

Kendrick Perkins is making a strong case for First Team All NBA Defense if not for Defensive Player of the year.  Perk finished off another double-double scoring 14 points on 4-6 shooting and 13 rebounds. He also added 3 blocks averaging almost 2 blocks a game (1.88) placing him 8^th in the league but is posting a whopping 3.36 BLKP48M (blocks per 48 minutes) which is second in the league among players averaging 25 minutes plus per game behind rejection machine Josh Smith from Atlanta.

Kevin Garnett may have something to do with the vast improvements in young Kendrick’s game.

KG  was on fire pouring in 24 points on 11-12 shooting, his only miss on an ugly turn around jumper high off the glass that he probably would like to have back.  That miss broke his string of 13 straight dating back to Friday’s game against the Raptors.

Kendrick Perkins started off the first quarter strong by drawing four fouls in as many minutes.  Two of those fouls were against Jermain O’Neal who sat the final ten minutes of the first quarter. That didn’t slow down the Heat who came out gunning and scored 31 in the quarter with an emphatic Wade jam from the middle of the key.  Both teams decided to give their defense a rest to start the game as they shot the lights out with Boston hitting seventy-six percent from the field followed by Miami connecting on sixty-eight percent.  Pierce carried the Celtics through the opening salvo from the Heat with 10 points on some impressive baseline drives and strong finishes that may be a sign of the Celtics getting their attitude back.

Then the defense showed up.

After what looked to be the start of another shootout both teams decided it would be better to actually try and stop each other from scoring. O’Neal came out fast after sitting most of the first and was giving Sheldon Williams all he could handle and more.  The Celtics held the Heat to 17 points in the second while they pulled ahead with 26 of their own as Rajon Rondo  was efficient with his distribution and shot selection compiling a double double with 13 points and 11 assists to help the C’s bring a 55-48 lead into the half.

As hot as Boston was in the first half, they were ice cold coming out in the second.  At one point into the fourth the Celts had 9 FGs to 4 TOs. Not good to say the least.  Eddie House has been struggling all season and finally hit his first basket late in the third and went just 1-2 from the field with two turnovers.

D-Wade took over the third going 4-5 in the period with some free throws sprinkled in to drag the Heat within two with three minutes left as the Celtics watched an 11 point lead evaporate on one of Michael Beasley’s four dunks of the night tying the game at 62 and capping a 14-3 run.  The full court pressure from the Heat was attributing to even more Boston turnovers and things could have quickly changed for the worse before coach Doc Rivers adjusted by spreading the floor and bringing in four three point shooters. Brian Scalabrine stopped the bleeding with his only bucket of the game on his only shot but it was a three and kept the Celtics in striking range while the starters (minus Ray Allen) caught a breather on the bench.  The rest of the reserves struggled to score in the third and as a result only scored 12 as a team.

Rondo tied the game back up at 76 with six minutes left in regulation and the Big Three did the rest.  After getting out defended for most of the second half Boston regained their composure and went on a 14-9 run in the final five minutes to put the game out of reach with KG putting the icing on the cake with a pretty jumper from 19 feet and expressed his enthusiasm towards a less than appreciative Miami crowd that was already filing out.

The starters bore the brunt of the minutes for this game with Allen on the floor for 42 minutes despite having personal issues over the weekend.  Not a good sign of fresh legs for this road trip that includes stops in San Antonio and Charlotte who just handed the Cavs an embarrassing loss over the weekend.

Photos from  AP Photo/J Pat Carter