Celtics Take Crucial Game 5 Behind Garnett and Pierce

Kevin Garnett helped lead the Celtics to their Game 5 win. (Mike Ehrmann)

When the Miami Heat came from behind in Game 2 to win, they took a commanding 2-0 lead and all the foreseeable momentum to Boston. My how the tables have turned since then. In Games 3 & 4, the Celtics took large leads early and demonstrated poise as they held on to level the series at two games a piece. Tonight, the series shifted back to Miami for the decisive Game 5.

The Heat came out strong in the first quarter, led by LeBron James. The Celtics struggled on the offensive end, as the Heat built the lead to as much as 11 in the first quarter. Midway through the second, the Celtics offense started to come alive. The third quarter saw back and forth action as the teams traded punches. However, it was the Celtics who locked down to close out the quarter on a 8-0 run to take a five-point lead into the fourth.

The fourth quarter turned into a classic battle. Both teams knew what the win would mean. With a minute to go, the Celtics led by one with the ball. Paul Pierce had the ball in his hands. From 25 feet out, he simply rose up and shot the three over LeBron's outstretched arm. Nothing but net. It didn't matter how much Pierce had struggled in the game prior. He turned to the Celtics' bench and shook his head. They knew how big the shot was. The Heat tried to come back, but clutch free throws by Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett sealed the Celtics' crucial road victory.

Three games ago the Celtics were too old. Now, they are one win away from a return to the NBA Finals. Garnett finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds. While LeBron may be the regular season MVP, I believe at this point Garnett deserves the Eastern Conference MVP. Following the game KG talked about the toughness of his team, "We stayed with it. We had a rough first quarter, first half. We got our stops and made our run ourselves. And when we had to, we had stops. He also commented on the teamwork the Celtics display, "We do it together; we don't do it individually...When we do it together, we look pretty darned good."

Pierce nailed another clutch shot, showing once again that he is one of the game's best closers. Game 6 returns to Boston with the Celtics needing just one win to advance. The pressure is on the Heat, who looked good early, but really didn't play well beside the efforts of LeBron James and Dwayne Wade. They will need more of a team effort to have a chance in Game 6. Coverage of Game 6 is scheduled to begin Thursday night at 8:30 on ESPN.