Finally a player from Miami refused to back down to the Celtics.
Having lost all three regular season match-ups to Boston, James Jones finally tallied a victory for Heat.
As one of the “other” players in Miami, Jones has proven to be a lethal three-point shooter, connecting on 42 percent of his attempts from long range and punishing opponents for leaving him open.
During the three meetings with Boston this season, Jones scored just 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting from long-range.
Although Miami (41-15) ranks second in the league in total victories, there are plenty of questions about its ability to defeat elite teams.
Completely revamping its roster from a season ago, its clear the Heat is still trying to find its chemistry.
As one of just four players returning from last season, Jones has been expected to become the top three-point shooter on the team.
Connecting on 93 attempts from downtown (15th in the league), Jones entered the contest in a shooting slump, failing to connect from beyond the arc in each of his last four games.
The Celtics (40-14) already clinched the season series with Miami but entered the All-Star break tied for the Eastern Conference lead with the Heat.
The two teams meet one more time in Miami during the final week of the season.
The Heat are hoping the strong showing from Jones carries over into real game action.
Squaring off with Paul Pierce, the defending champion of the event, and Ray Allen, the all-time three-point champion, Jones never blinked.
Watching Pierce open the second round with an impressive 18 points but Jones wasn’t rattled by the impressive point total.
Burying four of five shots on each rack, Jones captured the three-point title for the fourth time in Miami history, joining Glen Rice, Jason Kapono and Daequan Cook.
Allen closed the event with just 15 points in the final round, falling five short of the mark set by Jones.
Dorell Wright, a castoff in Miami so the team could resign Dwyane Wade and land LeBron James and Chris Bosh in free agency, was eliminated on the final shot from Pierce in the opening round.
Starting strongly, Wright sank his first two shots but failed to carry the momentum for the rest of the event, finishing with 11 points.
Kevin Durant and Daniel Gibson both disappointed in the opening round as each failed to even register 10 out of a possible 25 points.
As soon as Durant finished, all of the star power in the event belonged to the two Celtics remaining in the event and Jones was the heavy underdog.
The streaky shooter caught fire and brought home the title for the Heat.
Miami is just hoping this isn’t the only victory it will have over the Celtics in 2011.
