By Ethan Walshe
Staff Writer

The Boston Celtics asserted themselves as the better team during last night’s season opener against the Miami Heat, which they won 88-80.

The atmosphere of the TD Garden could only be described as electric during last night’s highly anticipated home opener against the C’s soon to be rivals.

This was Miami’s first regular season game, unveiling their new “Big 3” (a take off of Boston’s own big three of Kevin Garnet, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce) of Dwayne Wade and the new additions of Chris Bosh from the Toronto Raptors and LeBron James from the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The home team was also coming out with something to prove. The team had just lost to their historic rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers, in the NBA Finals in seven games.

The Celtics also made a few off-season moves of their own, including acquiring former all-stars Shaquille O’Neal and Jermaine O’Neal, as well as the resigning of Delonte West, who was previously Lebron’s teammate on the Cavaliers.

The Celtics starting five can be described only as four certain future hall of famer’s with Paul Pierce, Shaquille O’Neal, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen and a potential future hall of famer in Rajon Rondo. The stage was set for what would turn out to be a thrilling game, as the usual “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns ‘N Roses reverberated through the TD Garden right before tip-off.

Both teams came out playing with incredible intensity throughout the first quarter, resulting in a low scoring period, Boston 16, Miami 9. This was largely due to well-played defense by both teams, but Miami’s Wade was looking ineffective, having just been put back on active duty after missing several preseason games. The Celtics were also missing many shots that they should have scored, contributing to the low score.

Lebron started the second quarter on the bench for the Heat, and the team suffered noticeably, scoring only 6 points in the first 5 minutes of the period. Meanwhile, the Celtics pulled ahead, with several players off the bench contributing to the score. The first half came to a close with Boston having the edge of 45 points to Miami’s 30. This was Miami’s second lowest scoring first half in franchise history. Ray Allen led all scorers with 11 points.

It is usually expected that James really “comes alive” in the second half of any game. This became true towards the end of the third quarter, when it seemed that James decided to stop being a team player. Used to being the star, James has been getting used to the idea of playing with two other talented players in their own “Big Three”. At this point in the game, he must have said to himself “if we want to win, I’ve got to play.” And he did just that, ending several plays himself with long jump shots instead of passing the ball in an attempt to regain control. The quarter ended Boston 63, Miami 57.

A scary moment occurred during the third quarter when Pierce took a hard hit and was sent to the locker room with lower back pain. He would return in the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter is when teams really get down to business and need to score points. The intensity rose even higher, if that were even possible. It became clear that both of these teams were here to win, even though only one could be the victor. There was a constant back and forth of points in which Miami got within three before a pivotal foul on Paul Pierce allowed for three free throws for the Celtics, giving them the edge they needed to gain the lead. But as everyone knows, the final two minutes of a basketball game are the most important. Miami got within three points once again, but Ray Allen hit a key three point shot to increase the lead to six with 48 seconds left. The game was over from there with the final score being Boston 88, Miami 80.

The “new big three” proved pretty ineffective in this game; with James going back to his usual one man show tactics. The Celtics triumvirate were simply able to one-up Miami’s. This game joins the club of many games showing that, simply put, 15 >1, meaning that the Celtics work as a team was able to overpower the one man team that is LeBron James.

The chants of “O-Ver-Rate-Ed” may have been a bit harsh for opening day. The Miami Heat certainly have some kinks to work out in their roster and how “the new big three” play together in the coming months. Wade was coming off of injuries and Bosh just wasn’t playing to the best of his abilities. But let’s face the facts: Boston played as a team, not as individuals, and that’s what won this highly anticipated home opener.

The Celtics certainly brought the Heat to defeat Miami and start the season off a winning note.