The Heat and Celtics are Going Seven

Rajon Rondo’s Game 2 masterpiece was just that, we haven’t forgotten, nor is Rondo’s potential impact on a game overlooked here, but the Celtics, in being celebrated for the sum-greater-than-the-parts team ball that saw them patch together plays and runs of brilliance en route to taking this series to the brink, also showed they could die by the same sword if the parts aren’t humming along at peak proficiency. Rondo was scoring last night, but the shots weren’t falling for really anyone else wearing a Celtics uniform; his 10 assists were not gathered easily. If it sounds rather simple, that’s because it is: When Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett combine to score 14 less points than James alone, you have a problem and likely, a loss.

That the Celtics rely so heavily upon one another, upon everyone being in place and then making the play in said place, is what makes them so great to witness when they’re clicking and so obviously over matched when everything is run to near-perfection save for the end result. Other than Rondo, who lives in this territory, the Celtics cannot color too far outside the lines of their game. In Game 7, Boston will probably get the shots they normally do; whether or not they’re going in with any frequency will decide their offensive output. Point is, their system will be in place. Rondo will be out there setting guys up. If they don’t score much, it likely won’t be because of a total system failure. But that doesn’t mean the system will be enough.

With the Heat, their offensive strategy is very often anti-organizational, instead deferring to James and Dwyane Wade to orchestrate, well, everything. And while Wade hasn’t left much of a mark on this series, last night is a reminder that when LeBron James goes off, even with minimal support from anyone else, it can be more than enough to win a basketball game alone. Especially with a poor Celtics’ shooting night thrown in the mix. There is his play which makes it obvious, his demoralizing mid-range shooting display for affect, but there is also the understanding that he, James, is doing it, that makes a game feel almost out of the control of anyone else on the floor.

On a night when the shots weren’t falling for Boston, all that James gave his Miami Heat team was more than enough (and by “all,” I mean basically everything). That’s the Heat’s advantage: Sometimes you don’t need much else when you have LeBron James. But. Sometimes you do. How the cookie crumbled in Game 6 was the Celtics’ off-night and LeBron’s statement response combining for a rout. If the Celtics had packed a stronger punch in Game 6, we might’ve had to hear about everything except LeBron’s incredible play; in fact, he probably would’ve taken blame in some twisted light. Thank goodness that was avoided. Seriously.

But on to Game 7 we go, where the Miami Heat might need more than James’s alien abilities if the Celtics’ machine kicks back into somewhere around high gear. Here’s hoping they do so. Here’s hoping the Celtics bounce back, the shots are dropping, and the rest of the Heat bring more to the table alongside another strong showing from the M.V.P., if for no other reason than, come Sunday morning, we’ll be forced to talk about what did happen, instead of what didn’t.