Boston Celtics: 5 Takeaways from Their Game 5 Win over the Miami Heat

The Boston Celtics stole home-court advantage and took the ever-important Game 5. They now lead the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference final 3-2 and find themselves just one win away from returning to the NBA Finals for the third time in the past five years.

Getting the last win will certainly be difficult, but with two chances at it and one at home, the Celtics have put themselves in a great position to advance.

The winner of Game 5 in a tied series goes on to win the series 83.5 percent of the time, according to Steve Aschburner of NBA.com, so the Celtics also have that working for them.

Here are five takeaways from Tuesday's game:

Celtics Can Close out the Heat

Paul Pierce's three-pointer over LeBron James has to rank right up there with the most clutch shots of the Big Three era. Make no mistake about it: that set the Celtics up to win.

Equally clutch were the free throws that followed to close out the game. In the final seconds, the Celtics went perfect from the line to keep the Heat from pulling off the miracle comeback.

People generally don't realize how hard free throws are with the game on the line, especially on the road. That's about as much pressure as possible, but the Celtics handled it perfectly and ensured victory on the free-throw line.

Between Pierce's three and the free throws at the end, there was no way the Heat could possibly win. Textbook closeout of a game.

Mickael Pietrus Plays a Big Role

I've been saying it all along: Mickael Pietrus needs to step up and play a big role for the Celtics to contend. He did just that in Game 5.

He was the leading scorer off the bench for the game with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field, including two big threes.

His contribution goes beyond his stat line though. When his shot wasn't falling in prior games, Pietrus turned to hustle and defense to make an impact. Even when his shot was falling in Game 5, he stayed with his hustle and great defense, and the result was a big impact on nearly every part of the game.

Without his great play, the Celtics would be in a 3-2 deficit. Instead, they are leading the series 3-2. Now they just need Pietrus to continue to play at this level to close out the Heat and compete for the title.

Rajon Rondo Struggles...but the Celtics Still Win

In Game 2 at Miami, Rajon Rondo had 44 points. The Celtics lost.

In Game 5, Rondo had seven points and 13 assists on 3-of-15 shooting. The Celtics won.

Don't get confused though; this is good news. The Celtics don't need Rondo to be great to win, but more often than not, he will be.

Celtics Neutralize the Role Players for the Heat

There are two different ways to go about beating the Heat; you can either try to shut down LeBron James and Dwyane Wade or try to shut down everyone else. The latter is much easier and that is exactly the strategy the Celtics used in Game 5.

Regardless of what you do, LeBron and Wade will still score a lot. However, if you shut down everyone else, then it is unlikely that D-Wade and LeBron will be able to score enough to win the game.

For the game, LeBron and Wade scored a combined 57 points (30 and 27, respectively). Everyone else scored just 33 points and not a single player not named LeBron or Dwyane scored in double digits. Meanwhile, five players for the Celtics scored in double digits.

Basketball is a five-man game, but the Celtics essentially made it two-on-five. That is a winning formula if I've ever seen one.

Still One Win Away

Just a few months ago, the Celtics were sub-.500 and limping into the second half of the season. Now, they are one win away from advancing to the NBA Finals. It is without a doubt cause for incredible excitement in Boston, but remember, they still need one more win.

Their best chance at winning will be Thursday night at the Garden, but even that will be no easy task because the Heat have their backs against the wall and will likely have a healthier Chris Bosh.

Still, the Celtics are in the driver's seat; however, they have lost in this position before.

Leading 3-2 in the series after winning Game 5, they lost against the Magic in 2009 and the Lakers in 2010.

However, the Celtics have all of the momentum and odds on their side. The series is theirs to win.