Heat survive Celtics in overtime despite Rondo's 44 - USA TODAY

By Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY

Updated

MIAMI â€" The proud and gutsy Boston Celtics played just about as well as possible.

• 

  By Steve Mitchell, US Presswire

  Miami Heat small forward LeBron James argues a call during the game against the Boston Celtics in Game 2 on Wednesday at Miami.

By Steve Mitchell, US Presswire

Miami Heat small forward LeBron James argues a call during the game against the Boston Celtics in Game 2 on Wednesday at Miami.

They shot 50% and led by 16 points in the first half against the Miami Heat. They withstood a furious third-quarter barrage from the Heat.

Boston point guard Rajon Rondo was outstanding. He played all 53 minutes and had a career-high 44 points with 10 assists and eight rebounds, including two late three-pointers in overtime. Ray Allen gave a gutsy effort, playing through painful bone spurs in his right ankle. Center Kevin Garnett and forward Paul Pierce showed up.

• STORY: New Orleans Hornets win top pick in NBA draft lottery

• PHOTOS: The best NBA fashion statements

• PHOTOS: Top highlights from NBA playoffs

And it wasn't enough.

Even with Heat guard Dwyane Wade's quiet game â€" for him anyway, with 23 points â€" it still wasn't enough for the Celtics to steal a game on the road against the Heat.

Miami defeated Boston 115-111 in overtime in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals Wednesday, taking a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series. Game 3 is Friday (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).

James missed a jump shot at the end regulation. Despite that, James continues to demonstrate why he was the obvious MVP choice this season. He had 34 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists while playing outstanding defense. He had xx of his points on free throws.

The Heat hammered Boston in the third quarter with James and Wade taking over, as they have done in their past five playoff games. Miami erased a 57-46 deficit in the third quarter outscoring Boston 35-22.

It was impressive the way they terrorized the Celtics with defense, fastbreaks and points in the paint. Wade rebounded from a slow start and scored 12 of his xx points in the third quarter.

Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers, who had a shot to alleviate pain from a herniated disk, was infuriated with Boston's interior defense in Game 1. The Celtics were much better in Game 2 but allowed 16 points in the paint in the third quarter.

On Miami's final possession of the third quarter, James had two offensive rebounds, one ending with an easy putback off his own missed shot.

And is the case with Wade and James - James especially - playing on another level than the eight other players on the court, the Heat just needed a little offense from their role players. They got it. Forward Shane Battier made three three-pointers, and forwards Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller had 13 and seven points.

Miami point guard Mario Chalmers mitigated Rondo's effort with 22 points, six assist and four rebounds.

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

USA TODAY is now using Facebook Comments on our stories and blog posts to provide an enhanced user experience. To post a comment, log into Facebook and then "Add" your comment. To report spam or abuse, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box. To find out more, read the FAQ and Conversation Guidelines.