BOSTON -- At halftime of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, things looked pretty darn good for the Boston Celtics. They'd controlled the paint, taken care of the ball and made shots, and as a result, they had a 66-57 lead over the Miami Heat 24 minutes into this best-of-seven affair.
Then the third quarter started. And, yet again, the Dr. Jekyll version of Boston disappeared, and the Mr. Hyde version took over.
By the time those 12 minutes had expired, the game had been turned on its head. The Heat had outscored the Celtics 46-25, turning a nine-point deficit into a 12-point lead, and Miami was on its way to a stunning 123-116 win over Boston to steal back homecourt in this series and leave the second-seeded Celtics reeling from how quickly things got away from them.