Recent beasts of the East, Heat and Celtics ready for latest conference finals showdown
BOSTON (AP) — From the pandemic to the play-in tournament, not much has stopped the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat from crossing paths in the Eastern Conference Finals lately.
When they announce Game 1 of their final playoff pairing on Wednesday night, it will be the third East Finals duel between Miami and Boston in the last four seasons and the second in a row after Boston won in seven games last spring.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Heat and Celtics are still playing this late in the year.
Yet despite all that familiarity, Celtics All-Star Jaylen Brown sees a very different Miami team than the one they outlasted a year ago.
“It’s not the same team as last year. Jimmy (Butler) is still Jimmy and Spo is still Spo,” Brown said of longtime Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. “But we have to make sure we know about everyone else.”
Everyone else includes veterans with NBA Finals experience like Kevin Love, as well as players like Max Strus, who has been a regular contributor since Tyler Herro broke his hand and fell out in the opening game of Miami’s first-round series against Milwaukee.
But as the Celtics try to refocus after an emotionally draining seven-game streak with the 76ers, they know stopping a Heat team that has faltered since the play-in round is with the attempt must begin to contain Butler.
“He doesn’t give in. He does not give up. He’s not afraid of anyone,” Brown said of Butler, who is averaging career playoff highs in points (31.1) and field goal percentage (52.7%). “We have to be ready for this challenge. We have some great people and a great vibe in our team. So it should be fun.”
The Celtics also have two top scorers. All-NBA pick Jayson Tatum (30.1 points per game) has a playoff record 51 points against the 76ers and has had 30 or more points five times this postseason. Brown averages 26.6 points.
Don’t count on Miami being intimidated, however.
“It’s been a tough year, but we’re exactly where we want to be,” Strus said. “We talk about being in this position all season. We are excited to be here and ready for the opportunity.”
The Heat’s season was not without its challenges. Miami didn’t spend a day over .500 through mid-December, losing intermittent 12-of-20 games late in the regular season, losing a play-in game to Atlanta, and trailing Chicago in an elimination play-in game by 2: 18 minutes remaining.
“I wish I could have written the script or said to the team on the first day of camp, ‘Hey, we’re going to go through a lot of things this year and at times it’s going to feel like we’re in basketball hell…’ . and at the end of the day we’re going to face Boston in the conference finals,'” Spoelstra said.
The rallying cry seems simple: Boston beat Miami in this round last year, and now it’s up to the Heat to turn the tables.
But Spoelstra insisted that didn’t matter.
“We have a very motivated group,” he said. “No, I see no need for that. I think that’s played out. We look forward to the challenge this year and the opportunity that presents itself to us.”
RUN THE EAST
This is the tenth time in the past 14 years that the Heat, the Celtics or both have made it to the finals of the conference.
Boston and Miami have each been there seven times during that period – four against each other.
In those 14 seasons, nine teams have been in the Eastern Finals at least once. The exceptions: Detroit, Washington, New York, Brooklyn, Charlotte and Philadelphia.
IN THE ZONE
The Heat are notorious for using zone defense sets to disrupt teams.
They face a Celtics team that has had zoning issues throughout the regular season and playoffs.
The 76ers used it at times during their semifinals game against Boston and had the most success in the first game when they limited the Celtics to 49 points in the second half of Philadelphia’s 119-115 win.
Coach Joe Mazzulla said they prepared to deal with that against Miami.
“Just play with the tempo. I think it starts with our defense,” Mazzulla said. “You can’t miss open shots and you have to have a big distance. People play in the zone to slow you down. We have to play against Zone as fast as against humans.”
PERFECT LOVE
Love’s teams have rostered him in 14 Eastern Conference playoff series.
In these encounters they are 14:0.
Love starred in 12 of those series, missing two in 2015 because of an injury. So far this season he is 2-0 in a row with Miami. All of his other East Playoff appearances came during the LeBron James era with Cleveland.
He watched Game 7 of the Celtics-Heat last season, still a member of the Cavs, with no real interest. “When you play for another team, you kind of wish everyone could lose somehow,” Love said.
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AP basketball writer Tim Reynolds from Miami contributed to this report.
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