LeBron James reared back from the left elbow, just beyond the 3-point line.
He fired.
The ball went down, straight through the hoop.
Did it take the Celtics’ era of dominance with it?
James keyed a furious Miami comeback in the Heat’s series-clinching 97-87 victory over the C’s last night.
The Heat will face the Bulls or the Hawks in the Eastern Conference finals.
Meanwhile, despite leading big in the fourth quarter, Boston is going home, its playoff hopes dashed by a younger, superior “Big 3.”
The 2010-11 season is over for the Green. Now it’s all about the future.
Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen are all under contract for next season, and seem likely to return. But there’s rampant speculation that Doc Rivers has coached his last game for the Celtics.
And what’s to become of the rest of the roster? Surely a center is on the way. But will that cost too much to keep any depth on the bench?
Metro’s crystal ball
Three things we think will happen to the Celtics this offseason:
1 The core will stay together. Most of it’s under contract, and none of those will be easily moved. There’s one year of the Big 3 left.
2 Doc Rivers stays, too. A chance (however slim) at one last ring should entice him.
3 Talk begins about the money freed up after 2011-12. And rightly so; there will be some marquee FAs to retool with.
