LEBRON JAMES AND Dwyane Wade led the Miami Heat to a 93-79 win over Boston in game one of their Eastern Conference finals series on Monday.
At Miami’s AmericanAirlines Arena, James claimed a double-double with a game-high 32 points and 13 rebounds, while Wade registered 22 points, 10 of which came in the final quarter.
Making his first appearance in the conference finals, forward Shane Battier scored 10 points and had 10 rebounds for the Heat, who out-rebounded the Celtics 48-33.
James, who moved to 22nd on the NBA’s play-off scoring list, was happy with the collective effort from his team.
“We (he and Wade) get a lot of the press, we get a lot of the headlines, but our team-mates — they do everything to help us win ball games,” James said.
For the Celtics, Kevin Garnett top-scored with 23 points, while he also collected 10 rebounds.
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Rajon Rondo added 16 points and Paul Pierce chipped in with 12.
Boston managed just 11 points in the opening quarter, the lowest tally by any team in the first quarter this post-season.
But they stormed back to score 35 points in the second, only to be outscored in the second half as the Heat cruised to a 1-0 series lead.
Game two is in Miami on Wednesday.
