Eastern Conference Finals Preview between Boston Celtics and Miami Heat

Written By Eamon Cassels 

The Celtics and the Heat find themselves in a familiar spot facing each other once again. This will be the third time in the past ten years that the two will face each other in the conference finals. The Heat won the two previous matchups in 2012 and 2020. In the regular season, the Celtics won two out of three matchups. The Celtics have been the best team in basketball since the start of the new year. The Celtics finished the season going 17-5 since the all-star break and 2 wins shy of the number one seed. The Celtics success starts with defense. The Celtics had the number one defense in the league. That was seen in the first two rounds where the Celtics stopped both the star-studded Nets and the defending champion Bucks. The Celtics have defenders at every position you could ask for. At the perimeter, they have the defensive player of the year Marcus Smart leading the way along with Jaylen Brown and Derrick White. These guys will make it tough for the sharpshooters in Miami’s backcourt. Jayson Tatum has shined as a top two-way wing, limiting Kevin Durant in the first round. Tatum will most likely match up with Butler for this series. Protecting the rim and playing tough interior defense the Celtics have Al Horford, Robert Williams, and Grant Williams. These three made it tough for Giannis last series and will definitely provide Bam with problems. The Celtics hope Robert Williams can fully recover from his knee injury and have a consistent productive series. If Williams is healthy watch for the Celtics to collapse the paint on Butler forcing him to shoot more. Butler is a star but he’s an awful shooter. The more the Celtics defense can force him to shoot the better. On the offensive end, the Celtics need to continue the ball movement that has got them this far. The Heat won’t give up as many open threes as the Bucks did. This is where ball movement will pay off for the Celtics even more. Additionally, the Celtics can’t get overwhelmed by Bam Adebayo. Bam is maybe the best defender in the league, he can legitimately guard one through five. Bam’s size and versatility on defense are a huge reason the Heat have gotten this far. Bam shut down the Celtics in the 2020 conference finals. If Bam is guarding Tatum it could be a nightmare for Boston. Bam has the size, skill, and quickness to stop Tatum. When Bam guards Tatum, Jaylen Brown has got to set up and be a consistent scorer for the Celtics.

On the Heat side, they are certainly coming off two easier matchups than the Celtics. Beating the 8 seed hawks and the beat-up 76ers. The Heat pride themselves on balanced offense and defense. On paper, they don’t have any true consistent scorers outside of Butler. But Bam can be an elite inside scorer, and the Heat have shooters down the roster. The Heat sharpshooters of Tyler Herro, Max Strus, and Duncan Robinson could make or break the series for Miami. In 2020 Herro and Robinson gave the Celtics defense headaches. Since then the Heat added Max Strus who is an elite three-point sniper. The Heat also have guys like P.J Tucker, Caleb Martin, and Gabe Vincent who don’t shoot a ton of threes but are guys you can’t leave open. The scoring potential with shooting like this is dangerous. The play of Kyle Lowry, and Victor Oladipo will also be a huge factor for Miami’s chances. Lowry has been battling a hamstring injury for most of the playoffs. If Lowry is healthy the Heat will have a true facilitator and another pesky defender. Oladipo returned late in the season and has been up and down for the Heat. If Oldapio can be an efficient 15-point-a-game guy, it would give Miami a huge advantage. For my final prediction, I am going to go with Boston in 6 games. Ultimately I think the Celtics two-way wing duo of Tatum and Brown will be too much for the Heat to handle. I am going to favor the star power of those two over the depth and good role players of the Heat. The other big factor that favors the Celtics is they have the perfect team to stop Jimmy Butler. I love the role players for the Heat but it doesn’t matter if Butler is taken out of the game. Either way, this should be a great series between two of the league’s top teams.