Heat beats Celtics, take 2-0 series lead
Miami Heat's LeBron James, left, prepares to drive against Boston Celtics' Ray Allen during the first half of Game 2 of a second-round NBA playoff basketball series. (May 3, 2011) Credit: AP
LeBron James scored 24 of his 35 points in the second half, Dwyane Wade scored 28 and the Heat used a late 14-0 run to pull away and beat the Celtics, 102-91, in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series Tuesday night.
"Now the mental discipline begins," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "This thing is just getting started."
Chris Bosh had 17 points and 11 rebounds for Miami, which leads the best-of-seven 2-0.
Boston tied the game at 80 on a pair of free throws by Paul Pierce with 7:10 left. The Celtics missed their next six shots and Miami pulled away, taking command of both the game and the series, which resumes in Boston on Saturday night.
"That's our staple. We know the only way for us to win games, especially in the playoffs, is to play defense," James said. "Everyone has each other's back. If one guy gets beat, another steps up. They made a run, a heck of a run . . . but we just kept grinding, kept playing our principles, and we finally wore them down."
Rajon Rondo had 20 points and 12 assists for Boston, which got 16 points from Kevin Garnett and 13 from Pierce.
Thunder 111, Grizzlies 102: Kevin Durant had 26 points and Russell Westbrook 24 points and six assists for host Oklahoma City, tying the series at one game apiece.
Rose youngest MVP
Derrick Rose officially became the NBA's youngest MVP and joined Michael Jordan as the only Bulls players to win the award. The news was hardly a surprise after Rose had a spectacular season in leading Chicago to the league's best record. In Rose's third year, the dynamic point guard led the Bulls to their best season since the championship era. The 22-year-old Rose got 113 first-place votes from a panel of media voters. Orlando's Dwight Howard finished second, Miami's LeBron James was third.-- AP
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