Celtics Clamp Down Against The Heat And Melo Torches Utah While JR Smith Makes It Rain; 39 Days Left

Kevin Garnett's lack of composure didn't lead to a loss but Miami's did. Boston's emotional leader was slapped with two technical fouls, leading to an automatic ejection after he elbowed Quentin Richardson (kind of unintentionally) in the jaw with 40 seconds left in the Celtics' 85-76 victory over the Heat in their NBA playoff opener Saturday night. The Big Ticket faces a possible suspension and most likely will miss the second game Tuesday night in Boston (David Stern hates fighting). However, KG was remorseful of his lack of composure even though he said he was just concerned about teammate, Paul Pierce, who had fallen in front of the Miami bench and hurt his shoulder and he wanted to clear space around him. Before his ejection, Garnett had played well with 15 points and nine rebounds.

The Heat's loss of composure lasted much longer. Leading 61-47 with 7:02 left in the third quarter, they fell behind 71-68 with 3 minutes left in the third, mainly 'cause they finished with 22 turnovers that resulted in 38 Boston points. Trailing 44-41 at halftime, the Celtics held the Heat to 32 points in the second half. And with substitute guard Tony Allen shadowing D-Wade, the Heat star scored 26 points after averaging 33.7 in three regular-season games against Boston. Allen also scored a playoff career-high 14 points, and Pierce led Boston with 16. While Richardson added 15 for Miami to go with D-Wade's out-of-this-world stat line of 26 pts, 8rbs, 6 ast, 3 stls, and 2 blks.

Trailing by two starting the final quarter, the Celtics tied the game at 68 on two free throws by Rajon Rondo, who had 10 points and 10 assists. Then the Glen Davis gave Boston the lead for good with an acrobatic layup.Miami followed with a 24-second violation before a tip-in by Davis gave Boston a 73-68 lead. The Heat then missed their next two shots and Rasheed Wallace stretched the lead to six with one free throw. Wade followed with a free throw, but Allen increased the lead to 76-69 with a layup. Michael Beasley then hit a shot for the Heat but any chance they had faded as the Celtics scored the next five points on a dunk by Garnett, a free throw by Davis and a layup by Rondo. It's going to be a scrappy and defensive series but an intense one to watch.
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It had been a while since Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith found the net like they did Saturday night. Melo scored a playoff career-high 42 points and Smith's fourth-quarter flurry of 3-pointers helped the Denver Nuggets beat the injury-riddled Utah Jazz 126-113 on Saturday night in Game 1 of the playoff series. Anthony, whose previous playoff high was 41 points against Dallas in the second round last year, benefited from the absence of Jazz forward and defensive stopper Andrei Kirilenko, who re-injured his strained left calf in practice Thursday and won't play in the series. So we might see a few more games like this from Melo in this series; he was on a mission and C.J. Miles and Wes Matthews were powerless to stop him.

Although Carlos Boozer returned to Utah's lineup from a rib injury and scored 19 points, the Jazz lost center Mehmet Okur, who aggravated his left Achilles' tendon injury in the first half, leading Boozer to believe he'll have to move over to center for Game 2 Monday night. Memo said after the game that he felt something "pop" and will undergo an MRI on Sunday. CJ Miles also missed some time because of nausea after colliding with Chauncey Billups in the second half. He returned to start the fourth quarter but quickly went to the bench with five fouls. He scored 17 points but none after halftime.

Kenyon Martin pulled down 12 rebounds in 34 minutes, the most he's played since missing 18 games because of a balky left knee during the stretch run when the Nuggets fought through lots of adversity, including George Karl's two-month absence to fight throat cancer. Assistant Coach Adrian Dantley has run the team in Karl's absence, and on this night, he certainly didn't mind Smith's flurry of fourth-quarter 3-point attempts (something that drew his ire last week when Smith fired up four 3s in the final 2 minutes of a blowout win over Memphis). Smith (20 pts) sank three straight 3s to break open a 90-90 game and give Denver a 99-93 lead. A fourth 3-pointer hit the front of the iron, but Smith grabbed the long rebound himself and sliced through the lane for a finger-roll that put the Nuggets ahead 101-93.

Smith and Anthony combined for 30 of Denver's 38 points in the fourth quarter, giving Dantley a win in his post season debut. Coach Karl recently completed his six-week treatment of radiation and chemotherapy and hopes to return to the bench later in the playoffs if the Nuggets can advance. We will all be praying for his recovery.

Peace and Much Love to Y'all :)