MIAMIThe Boston Celtics have seen their share of X-factors come to life in the playoffs thus far.
In their first-round series against Atlanta, it was Jeff Teague. Against the Philadelphia 76ers, it was rookie big man Lavoy Allen.
Against the Heat?
It's still early, but the X-factor on Monday night was Shane Battier who had a rare double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds in helping Miami defeat Boston, 93-79, in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.
"Shane is everything, man," said Miami's Dwyane Wade. "He does it all for our team."
It certainly looked that way in Game 1.
While LeBron James (32 points, 13 rebounds) and Wade (22 points, seven assists) were racking up all the stats, it was Battier doing the dirty work that in a playoff series like this, could literally mean the difference between winning and losing.
Boston Celtics
And it was Battier who in hindsight, came up with arguably the biggest play of the night.
Boston spent the entire game playing from behind, but in the third quarter they finally had a chance to take the lead.
With the score tied at 50, Ray Allen got a steal and began to dribble up-court and seemingly had a potential fast-break in the works.
Rajon Rondo was filling the middle of the lane, and was calling for the ball.
Allen didn't initially see him. By the time Allen did, Battier was on the move and was able to block Rondo's lay-up attempt from behind.
Moments later, Battier drilled a 3-pointer that put the Heat ahead for good.
In addition to his scoring and rebounding - it was his first playoff double-double ever - he also managed to keep a bigger, stronger Brandon Bass from having his way on the perimeter or around the basket.
Bass had eight points on 4-for-11 shooting.
The play of Battier certainly caught the attention of Celtics head coach Doc Rivers. If only the same could be said for the Celtics defense, which seemed a bit too giving to Battier all game.
When asked how to compensate for Battier when he's having a game like he did on Monday night, Rivers responded, "We guard him. That would be nice. Take away some of the easy shots."
Battier was 4-for-11 shooting just like Bass, with most of his shots coming "too easy."
Said Rivers: "Shane had three or four easy shots that hurt us."
Despite James and Wade (22 points, seven assists) being the central figures in the Miami Heat offensive attack, Wade understands Miami will need players like Battier and Mike Miller (eight points off the bench) to continue contributing if they are to move on to the NBA Finals for the second year in a row.
"He (Battier) does all the little things," Wade said. "He's pesky. He gets under other guy's skin a little bit. He does a great job of blocking out. Like I said, we love him. And we want him to continue to be comfortable, the way he was tonight and continue to shoot. He's going to have a game where he's going to score more because he's going to be ablehe's going to get those shots, he's going to knock more down."