Outlasted..

"F***."

Celtics are now down to their final loss in this best-of-seven series with Miami. After failing to execute in the final seconds of regulation, Lebron James and the Heat win Game 4 98-90. The Celts gave themselves and the fans alot of confidence early-on. Paul Pierce once again came out of the gate firing on all cylinders, Rondo, despite a dislocated elbow, was getting it done, and the C's were playing great defense. But Miami hung-around all night. The Celts never could stretch the lead out to a comfortable margin. Pierce led the C's with 27, but KG struggled, putting in only 7 points. A completely different Big Ticket than the one who scored 28 points in Game 3. Ray Allen also had a tough night-he put in 17 points, but never got into a good rhythm.

With about 20 seconds left in the 4th, the Celtics got the ball back with the score tied 86-86. The C's had a chance to put Miami away and tie this series up at 2 games. But execution once again was the C's downfall. Paul Pierce had to force up an awkward shot at the buzzer, and we went to OT. At that point, as big a Celtics fan as I am, I knew we were in deep trouble. You cannot leave the door open for a team with 2 guys as talented as Wade and James.

The Heat completely dominated the OT, and the C's simply ran out of gas. It was tough to watch. And as a C's fan, it's frustrating because this game was our's for the taking. James led all scorers with 35. The other key stat tonight was Miami's dominance on the glass. The C's only mustered 3 offensive rebounds to Miami's 10, and overall were out-rebounded 45-28.

So the Celtics have a daunting task ahead: beat Miami 3 times in a row, or the season is over. They will travel to Miami and play for their playoff lives in Game 5 on Wednesday. Tip-off is at 7pm. Head over to RedsArmy for Chuck's recap and a link to the full boxscore.
(video via Chris Forsberg)