Celtics battle back, fall short to Heat 86 - 93

Trailing by as many as 18 points in the first half, the Boston Celtics refused to give up to the defending champs.  They chipped away with hustle and heady, opportunistic play.  They got all the way back to take a brief lead with about 3 minutes left in the game.  For a minute there it was starting to look like a repeat of the game earlier in the season when Jeff Green hit the miracle 3 pointer to win it.  Of course the Heat ultimately tightened up enough to seal the win, but it was great to see this team battle back in a game nobody expected to see them in to begin with.

• Welcome to the Chris Johnson era! The kid made the most of his opportunity with 11 points, 2 three pointers, an assist, a steal, and a whole lot of hustle and poise.
• Excellent work on the glass by Sullinger and Humphries who combined for 24 boards.
• Rondo looked alright, tallying 5 assists, but several other good passes were bobbled or didn't lead to scores.
• Bradley left the game early with an ankle injury.  That prompted Danny Ainge to get on the phone with the D-League.  If Vander Blue is anything like Chris Johnson, I'm all for it.
• I wouldn't say that LeBron James had a "quiet" 29 points, but I was still surprised to see that he got that many.
• Another day, another hard-fought loss.  Too bad I lost count of the Moral Victories.  This was a big one in that regard.

Next up, the Wizards.