2011 NBA Playoffs: Miami Heat vs. Boston Celtics Preview.
Here it is folks. This one is for all the bragging rights. Anything and everything that the Miami Heat have done up to this point means absolutely nothing. Not their record, not their bad start, not their strong finish, not even their struggles with putting away the Sixers in the first round.
If the Heat want to be taken seriously (and silence some of their critics), they have to prove themselves in the playoffs. To quote the great Ric Flair, “to be the best, you have to beat the best.”
But if the Heat want to beat the Celtics, they are going to have to do it while the Celtics are red hot (no pun intended).
Boston just swept the New York Knicks in 4 games, and they seem to have their “mojo” back. Their timing couldn’t have been any better, seeing as how they were coming under harsh criticism for their terrible finish, and really staggered into the playoffs. Trading Kendrick Perkins almost collectively did them in as a team.
Nothing like an under-manned Knicks team to help change the attitude in Boston right?
THE CASE FOR THE HEAT
- The one saving grace for the Heat is that they will have home court advantage.
- The Heat can also say that their core players are younger than the Celtics core players.
- The Heat know that other than the Celtics’s big 3, Boston doesn’t really trust their supporting players. Just ask Garnett if he trusts Nenad Kristic to set a pick or make a shot.
THE CASE FOR THE CELTICS
- Matchups; Doc Rivers is going to take advantage of the matchups between Ray Allen vs. Dwyane Wade, and Rajon Rondo vs. any freakin’ body that’s put in front of him (either Mike Bibby or Mario Chalmers).
- Jermaine O’Neal: He showed signs of making a playoff impact against the Knicks as his shot blocking and defense gave the team a lift in the first two games of the series. He will be a force.
- THE X FACTOR; Shaq. Shaquille O’Neal is rumored to return in this series vs. the Heat. I don’t expect him to be much of a force, but the psychological intimidation it provides could be a big one.
