Passionless play, but a truly boffo ending

Just what the Heat didn't need: James Posey collides with the Celtics' Rajon Rondo, hurting his left shoulder and wrist. (ELIOT J. SCHECTER/GETTY IMAGES)

MIAMI -- There will be meaningful games played here and in the not-too-distant future. Last night? Other than a Grizzlies intrasquad scrimmage, you'd have a hard time conjuring up a less important, less dramatic, less compelling event.

Miami was locked into the No. 4 playoff spot in the East and had nothing to win -- or lose. (Well, James Posey hurt his left shoulder and wrist in a collision with Rajon Rondo, so maybe the Heat did lose something.) The Celtics' full-gainer into the lottery tank has been an ongoing story line for weeks.

But the price of a forfeit is too steep, so both teams showed up. For the record, in a game in which fans saw a lot more of Mike Doleac, Chris Quinn, and Earl Barron than they might have wanted, and on Fan Appreciation Night no less, the Celtics came away from American Airlines Arena with a down-to-the-last-possession 91-89 victory, on an Al Jefferson 11-foot hook that swished through with one-10th of a second left. The victory snapped a seven-game skid and was the fourth in 34 games without Paul Pierce (who watched from the sideline).

Miami didn't exactly concede this one, but Pat Riley kept his starters firmly planted on the pine for the fourth quarter, which began with the teams knotted at 65. It was as if Riley borrowed a page from Doc Rivers's recent coaching performance in Milwaukee. But resting the stars made sense and was part of the plan all along. Miami does have some big games coming up, so Shaquille O'Neal (25 minutes, 14 points) and Dwyane Wade (24 minutes, 8 points) were able to work up a sweat.

Rivers, meanwhile, went for the jugular, using all his starters in the fourth (save Kendrick Perkins, who, with Shaq out then, was superfluous). Behind Delonte West (28 points) and Jefferson (20), the Celtics led by as many as 8. But it was a tie game at 89-89. Gerald Green had a shot blocked on Boston's last possession, but, with 2.7 seconds left, Jefferson got the ball and went over Doleac for the winner.

Rivers tried to create important-game conditions when he vociferously protested a non-call against Shaq in the third quarter, earning a technical from ref Mark Wunderlich. His previous technical had been March 30 against Philadelphia in the third quarter of an 88-82 loss . . . Green had a dreadful Florida trip, making two more baskets than Theo Ratliff. In 42 minutes over two games, he went 2 for 16 . . . Rivers reported Jefferson felt "better than some of the other guys" on the day after his return to the lineup. Big Al scorched the Magic for 28 points Sunday and, Rivers said, "He was extremely sharp. I didn't see that coming. I don't think anyone did." Jefferson had missed six games, so it was anyone's guess how he'd play. "That actually was one of his better games of the year," Rivers said. "They tried everyone on him and it didn't matter."

Last night was just the second game of the season in which Shaq started at center and Wade and Jason Williams, the championship backcourt, were also starting. The first time it happened? Three nights earlier . . . The Celtics avoided their first season sweep to Miami since 1997-98, when Miami went 4-0 . . . Rivers on guarding Shaq: "He's like the Hoover Dam. You're standing there, hoping to hold off all the water." . . . Miami has to open the playoffs on the road, either in Chicago or Cleveland . . . The game last night, the Heat's regular-season home finale, was Miami's 98th consecutive sellout dating to Feb. 13, 2005. The team has had 116 straight sellouts counting the postseason.

Peter May can be reached at P_May@globe.com.