Celtics Display Warrior Mentality with Game 4 Win

Fourth quarter. Down two. The Boston Celtics were seeing their 2011-12 season, the Big Three era, all flashing before their eyes. They had allowed the hated Miami Heat to storm back from an 18-point deficit to take the lead, and they simply looked out of gas. Jumpers were bouncing off the front of the rim, passes weren't crisp and the offense had absolutely no fluidity.

The Celtics were staring at a 3-1 deficit square in the face, as it was starting to look like the 2011 postseason all over again when they blew a double-digit lead to the Heat in Game 4 and lost the game.

But this isn't 2011. It is 2012, and what the C's did tonight encapsulated what they have done all year long: fight.

Boston fought back and regained the lead. They led 89-86 with 36 seconds remaining, but then LeBron James nailed a game-tying three. Overtime was upon us for the second time in the series.

Logic would tell you that the Celtics were doomed. They were exhausted, their aging and tired legs clearly giving them all sorts of issues in the second half. They had very little rhythm, and the fact that they coughed up that large of a lead for the second time in the series was still fresh on their minds.

Well, the C's continued to defy logic in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals, beating Miami 93-91 to tie the series up at two games apiece and are heading back to South Beach for a crucial Game 5.

This game had it all. It had Paul Pierce and James fouling out in the extra period. It had Ray Allen continuing to revitalize himself by hitting four threes. It had Kevin Garnett swatting shots like nobody's business. It had Keyon Dooling draining three gigantic treys. Finally, it had Rajon Rondo calling out the Heat during a halftime interview, accusing them of complaining and whining to the referees.

In the end, Boston's warrior mentality proved to be the difference, as evidenced by Mickael Pietrus hauling in two huge offensive rebounds on the same possession with under a minute to go in overtime. Pietrus wanted this. The Celtics wanted this. I can't remember a time I've seen them want it more.

Any other team would have wilted under this pressure. Not only did Boston blow an 18-point lead, but its most reliable scorer fouled out with 4:22 to go in overtime. The way the C's responded given the circumstances was absolutely incredible, and now they have scratched and clawed their way into a 2-2 tie with the heavily favored Heat.

Now, the Celtics know they have James, Dwyane Wade and company right where they want them. They know that all they need to do now is win two out of the next three and they advance to their third NBA Finals in the past five years. Do you really think they are going to let fatigue get in the way of that? They certainly didn't in Game 4, a game which I'm sure everyone in the country thought they were going to lose in the fourth quarter...and again in overtime.

I will go over the keys to what Boston needs to do to for the remainder of the series later, but man, right now, I just have to savor this win as a Celtics fan.

This win proved that the C's are a team of warriors. This win proved that Boston can beat Miami in this series.

This win epitomized the 2011-12 Boston Celtics.