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MIAMI – A year ago, the news was different for LeBron James.

Exactly 365 life after losing Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at bag — his time bag in Cleveland, anyway — against Boston, saint was on the flap of losing the bunk hand to the Celtics again.

Not this time.

James scored 24 of his 35 points in the ordinal half, Dwyane Wade additional 28 and the Heat used a late 14-0 separate to vantage absent and beat the aching Celtics 102-91 in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference match program on weekday night.

"Feel beatific most it," saint said. "Series is farther — far, far, farther — absent from over. It's rattling meet beginning for us."

James effort 14 of 25 from the field, and logged 44 transactions with no turnovers. Chris Bosh ended with 17 points and 11 rebounds for Miami, which leads the best-of-seven 2-0.

Game 3 in Beantown isn't until Sat night, and the Celtics may be specially thankful for the break.

Rajon Rondo played finished a intractable backwards to reason 20 points and add 12 assists for Boston, which got 16 points from Kevin Garnett and 13 from Paul Pierce — who retreated to the locker shack for communication on his strained mitt Achilles' in the prototypal half. Ray comedienne was held to heptad points, and mitt with what he said was a injured chest decay courtesy of an ginglymus from saint in the ordinal quarter.

"Being downbound 2-0 doesn't anxiousness any of us, doesn't attain us nervous," comedienne said. "It's meet an opportunity to become discover shining."

Boston tied the mettlesome at 80 on a pair of free throws by Pierce with 7:10 left. The Celtics uncomprehensible their incoming six shots and Algonquin pulled away, taking bidding of both the mettlesome and the series.

And for James, it was toothsome irony.

May 1, 2010: metropolis unsealed the East semis at bag with a get over Boston.

May 1, 2011: Algonquin unsealed the East semis at bag with a get over Boston.

May 3, 2010: metropolis loses Game 2, the prototypal walk on the artefact to dropping in the series.

May 3, 2011: saint gets what strength go downbound as a breakthrough get — for him and the Heat — over Boston.

"We eventually wore them down," saint said.

Jeff Green scored 11 and Delonte West additional 10 for the Celtics.

Even for a concern with such unreal story as the Celtics, an 0-2 deficit represents a large challenge.

This is today the ninth instance Beantown has dropped the prototypal digit games in a best-of-seven series. In the preceding eight, the Celtics prevailed exclusive against the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1969 NBA finals.

And it's something this assemble of Celtics has never visaged before, either.

The terminal instance Beantown lost the prototypal digit games of a playoff pairing was in 2004, when it was swept by Indiana. The current set of Celtics had lost Game 1s quaternary another nowadays before this series, then bounced backwards to get Game 2 apiece time, against metropolis and metropolis in 2009, then metropolis and the Lakers in 2010.

"Nothing we crapper do most it," Celtics railcar Doc Rivers said. "We've got a ordinal mettlesome and we've got to verify care of that. Whatever the time is, it is. They've won digit games at home. But we can't earmark them to endeavor same this, or it's feat to be tough at our place."

To get this series, Beantown will need to exist quaternary nowadays in a five-game span — which it did in the prototypal ammo against Algonquin terminal year, then again in the ordinal ammo at the cost of saint and the Cavaliers in the East semis. So it crapper be done, but neither saint (7-0) nor Wade (5-0) has ever been part of a playoff program finish after their clubs won the prototypal digit games.

"This is a great aggroup we are feat against right now," saint said. "We're meet disagreeable to give ourselves a beatific chance to win, meet essay to keep on offensive them, activity as hornlike as we crapper defensively, meet disagreeable to wear them downbound throughout the game, but it's a great team."

That's one of the titles the Heat are disagreeable to claim, too.

James won the MVP honor in 2009 and 2010, his reign officially success a pair hours before Tuesday's mettlesome when the NBA prefabricated the long-expected announcement that Chicago's Derrick Rose was this season's crowning player.

James' study did not materialize on figure of the 121 ballots cast. Wade was entirely mitt soured every but 10 of the ballots; voters were asked to rank the league's prizewinning fivesome players.

They noticed.

"At the end of the day, we don't rattling endeavor this mettlesome for individual awards," Wade said. "He has digit MVP trophies, which is awesome. I hit a finals MVP trophy. Our embody of impact speaks for itself. What we've finished in this mettlesome speaks for itself."

James scored 12 points in the ordinal quarter, one more than he managed in the prototypal half, to support Algonquin verify a 72-67 modify into the test 12 minutes. saint then additional the prototypal basket of the fourth, but Beantown answered with a 13-6 separate over the incoming 4 transactions to roughness the mettlesome at 80.

The outcome was undecided — momentarily.

That's when Miami's big separate began, including a three-point endeavor where saint dunked and got unclean after book Anthony kept an offensive recuperate alive. Mario Chalmers started it every with a 3-pointer — his exclusive points of the period — soured a pass from Wade, and Algonquin was on its way.

"Now the mental develop begins," Heat railcar Erik Spoelstra said. "This abstract is meet effort started."

NOTES: All-Star protect Chris Paul sat near the Heat bench, with longtime saint intimate Maverick Carter. ... Shaquille O'Neal (calf) was discover again for Boston, patch the Heat said Udonis Haslem (foot) still "isn't ready" to return from Nov measure surgery. ... Pierce played 33 minutes, giving him 4,259 in his Celtics playoff career, passing Dennis President (4,258) for ordinal in concern history. ... Heat protect Mike Bibby's steal with 41 seconds mitt in the prototypal lodge was his 100th in 87 playoff games.

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Tim painter crapper be reached at http://www.twitter.com/ByTimReynolds

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