Adebayo is the guy, then, averaging 18.1 this postseason after chipping in 25.0 in the four regular-season meetings with Boston. Tyler Herro reportedly is still a couple weeks away, at best, since fracturing his right hand in the opener against Milwaukee. With multiple Celtics defenders likely to split time on him – Brown, Smart, White – the next Heat options will loom large. Since turning his ankle in Game 1 against the Knicks, Butler has looked more mortal: 24.5 ppg on 41.7% accuracy (only 1-for-8 on 3-pointers). Already he has had nights with 56, 42, and 35 points. He is averaging 31.1 points on 52.7% shooting, with 6.6 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.7 steals. Will ‘Playoff Jimmy’ get enough scoring help? While Miami will have to cope with Tatum, Boston will be dealing with Butler, whose zeal for big stages and clutch moments is his most impressive trait. Jimmy Butler has been named to the 2022-23 Kia All-NBA Second Team. Few outside the Heat’s film room expected them to reach this round, while anything shy of a Finals return will be seen as a setback for Boston. From Miami’s in-series and in-game adjustments to its climb from Play-In Tournament status a month ago, his teams often overachieve and rarely fall short of expectations. Now he is matched up with arguably the best in the NBA in Spoelstra.
Late in his first year on the job, Mazzulla, 34, was considered to be at a disadvantage against the Sixers’ Doc Rivers, one of the league’s most accomplished coaches. It potentially could prompt a counter from the Heat to sit down Kevin Love and use Caleb Martin in the spot with Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Max Strus and Gabe Vincent. But against the Heat, Boston might do better going back to Derrick White with Tatum, Brown, Horford and Marcus Smart. It was an idea that worked last spring and it worked again to close out Philadelphia. Might Boston revert in its starting lineup? Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla had a light-bulb moment before Game 6 against the Sixers, starting big man Robert Williams III next to Al Horford rather than staggering their use. He got 41 points against a variety of defensive looks, and Miami’s saving grace was a shortage of scoring help from other Knicks. Also, memories of Jalen Brunson’s elusive trickery from Friday are still fresh. But Tatum roasted Philadelphia in Sunday’s clincher, scoring 51 points for the highest personal total in the history of NBA Game 7s. The Heat typically stick to their defensive fundamentals and don’t get too fancy against particular individual threats. The Heat manufactured an unusual path to the Eastern Conference finals. Two teams remain, one survives beginning on the Celtics’ parquet floor Wednesday. “We’ve had our normal, big, audacious goals for this season, but when you get to one step like this, there’s great gratitude because there’s a lot of teams that would love to be in this position.” “It is really freaking hard to get to the Eastern Conference finals,” said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, after his team dumped the Knicks in six games on Friday. 8 seed to reach the conference finals round (New York got there en route to the 1999 Finals). Miami is rolling on house money, only the second No. 1 seed Milwaukee), but needed 13 games to reach this point. The Celtics have been considered favorites in the East for most of the postseason (once the Heat eliminated No. So we’ve just got to come out with a great fresh mind and execute.” I think they’re coming out and ready to play basketball. “I don’t think Miami is thinking about last year. “Nothing about last year matters,” Brown said after Boston’s blowout of Philadelphia at TD Garden.
But don’t assume the storylines from a year ago necessarily will apply now, Boston’s Jaylen Brown said Sunday. Last spring, the Celtics led 3-2 before dropping Game 6 at home, forcing them to clinch in Miami to earn their Finals shot against Golden State.įor the permanent record, then, this is the rubber match. In the Orlando bubble playoffs in 2020, the Heat won in six games, taking advantage of the neutral court setting to advance. This marks the third time in four years that Boston and Miami will battle for a berth in the NBA Finals, and many of the fundamentals about each team remain. Then again, there’s a familiarity between these rivals that transcends the current calendar. That’s an eternity in an NBA season, the equivalent of nearly four months for both teams to morph, shift, stiffen and ideally improve. One hundred and thirteen days will have passed since the Boston Celtics’ and Miami Heat’s last clash back in January to when they tip off Wednesday in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. Jayson Tatum and Jimmy Butler headline a very familiar Eastern Conference finals matchup between Boston and Miami.
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