Oh, this was where the Celtics were sure this devastating loss had gone sideways for them, where (Rajon) Rondo – on the way to a force-of-nature 44 points – had gone up-and-under the rim, flipped the ball off the backboard only to have the sweeping arm of Dwyane Wade come crashing down on his face. He crumpled to the ground with the score 105-105 and a minute left in overtime, and within moments, Udonis Haslem dunked the ball, and the Heat never lost the lead again.

“It was obvious,” Rondo said.

(Doc) Rivers seethed, but he could change nothing late Wednesday night. “LeBron James took 24 free throws, and our team took 29. Paul Pierce fouled out of a game where he was attacking the basket. I guarantee you right now, they’re distracted, our team, in the locker room.

“But we have to get it out of us and move on.”

In the foggy aftermath of a devastating loss, the Celtics didn’t know whether to be discouraged that they gave everything within them, and yet they’re still down 2-0 to the Heat; discouraged that Rondo delivered one of the great Celtics playoff performances ever, an unbowed 53 minutes of hellacious fortitude where those 44 points had come with 10 assists, eight rebounds and three steals and still Boston couldn’t beat Miami.

via Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports