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It is now official that the Boston Celtics will take on the Miami Heat in the first round of the NBA playoffs after an embarrassing effort from the Chicago Bulls in a 112-91 blowout in the NBA Play-In Tournament.
The Celtics enter this series as pretty heavy favorites, especially due to the Jimmy Butler injury against the Philadelphia 76ers in the Heat’s first Play-In game. But anything can happen in the playoffs, and Miami is no stranger to first-round upsets.
If the Cs are going to make it to the NBA Finals, they need to set the tone early in the playoffs to create momentum for the following rounds. To do that, the Celtics will need to accomplish a few things against the Miami Heat.
Boston Celtics must shoot lights out of the ball from 3-point line
The Cs had a historic offensive season, largely due to the 3-point shot. They averaged the most attempts per game at 42.5, which is three more than the second-place Dallas Mavericks at 39.5 attempts while hitting 38.8% of those attempts. The only team that shot the ball better from deep than the Celtics was the Oklahoma City Thunder, at 38.9%.
When those shots are falling, the Celtics look nearly unbeatable. However, when that’s not the case, that’s when they get into trouble. This is a team talented enough to win without the odd three points in a match. So if they are creating beauty without falling, they need to look elsewhere and not live or die by three bullets.
Boston needs to prove that this series is a mismatch talent and last year was an exception. Show everyone that even if the 3-point attempt doesn’t end in defeat, you are simply the better team. But to avoid all that, trust the way you’ve played all year that got you 64 wins and top of the East, and continue to topple the beauty at the bottom because no one can keep up Celtics when falling into this situation.
Overcoming the emotional pain of the Heat is important for the Boston Celtics
Everyone remembers the heartbreaking loss to the Heat in last season’s Eastern Conference Finals. The Celtics fell short against Miami, and even though they nearly did the impossible and came back from a 3-0 deficit, it was a series the C’s won’t forget. They were expected to win and reach the Finals, but they failed.
The Heat now have a mental advantage over the Celtics. They believe they can beat them because they couldn’t even beat them a year ago. And now, the Heat are coming off a dominant win over the Bulls, so they feel even better going into this series and can enter with a bit of momentum.
Once again , Boston needs to set the tone soon for s’ leave it. This bump. They can’t lose three games to 0 and expect a comeback.
Of course, this Celtics team is a lot different than last year, and the Heat will be without Butler. But it was the role players that killed the Celtics, and for the most part, they’re still around and even getting better with players like Jaime Jaquez Jr.; Not to mention Nikola Jović is a player with the ability to get hot and run similar to Caleb Martin.
Celtic need to take away the Heat’s confidence and eliminate them early. No one wants a repeat of last season, or even anything close
Boston Celtics need to rein in Bam Adabayo
In Jimmy Butler’s absence, Bam Adabayo is now the starter Heat’s best. Of course, as we learned last year, anyone can do damage if it gets hot enough. But Bam still played well for this Heat team and he should have more touches in a series without Butler.
Adebayo is also a player capable of punishing defenses residence of Kristaps Porziņģis. . Luckily, on offense, Porziņģis can get Bam out of the paint, where he is very effective so there is a trade-off. Regardless, when Al Horford is not on the court, the Celtics must find ways to prevent Bam from not only scoring but also assisting others; as he is a capable passer for his position.
If the Celtics can achieve these three keys, they will avoid a repeat of last year’s disappointing playoff loss