NBA Playoffs – playoffs – working day 3
The duel is served. The Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat will meet in the NBA playoffs for the third consecutive year. In the previous two, they starred in the Eastern finals. The Celtics won in 2022 and the Heat took revenge in 2023, delivering a monumental upset. Now they face each other in the first round, after those from Miami achieved the last ticket for the team in the play-offs. playoffs with a clear victory against the Chicago Bulls. The injury to Jimmy Butler, Miami’s star, makes it very difficult for them to repeat last year’s feat. The Boston team starts as a clear favorite, but after last year’s fiasco, they are not confident.
In 2022, after finishing first in the East in the regular season, the two teams experienced a vibrant conference final until Jimmy Butler missed the decisive basket in the seventh game in his pavilion. In 2023, like this year, Miami was classified as the eighth seed after the play in. That meant facing in the first round what had been the most solid and complete team of the season, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Milwaukee Bucks. Miami didn’t shrink, Jimmy Playoff Butler, nicknamed that because he grows in the playoffs, did wonders to defeat the Bucks, who suffered an injury to their star during part of the tie.
They then dispatched the Knicks before seeking revenge against the Celtics in the Conference Finals. They started the series with a surprising 3-0 in their favor. The Celtics tied it at 3 and played the decisive game at the TD Garden in Boston, where the Miami team completed their revenge. Only the New York Knicks in 1999 had managed to reach the NBA finals after being the eighth seed. Miami then fell to the Denver Nuggets.
Great imbalance
This year they will have it much more difficult. The Celtics seem like a more complete and reliable team, with defensive solidity and a wide range of offensive variants. They have physical strength, power under the rims and a great outside shot. Their stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have been joined by the signings of the versatile Latvian center Kristaps Porziņģis and the defensive stalwart Jrue Holiday, with the effective Derrick White in the gala quintet and the rocky Al Horford as the sixth man to replace Porziņģis. Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser and Luke Cornet have also delivered when they have enjoyed minutes.
Miami has been much more inconsistent all season. Jimmy Butler was injured when it was time for him, the playoffs, and it is possible that he will not have time to play again this season. Without him on the court, the team’s natural leader is Bam Adebayo. Although her name is Edrice Femi Adebayo, her mother nicknamed him Bam Bam after the Flintstones character, the strongest boy in the world. He is a defensive stalwart, the team’s best rebounder and a more than decent scorer.
The one who has taken a step forward in Miami’s attack is Tyler Herro. In his fifth season (on the team and in the NBA), the 1.96-meter, 24-year-old shooting guard is achieving his best numbers. Another who has to lend a hand with Butler out of the game is the Mexican-American Jaime Jaquez Jr, who has been improving his performance in his first year as a professional.
This Friday’s game in which Miami signed their classification did not have much history. The Heat went on a 34-17 run in the first quarter and the Chicago Bulls never really bothered them. Even without Butler, there is still a lot of difference between the two teams. The final quarter entered with 82-60 in favor of the Heat. In the end, 112-91 with 24 points from Herro and 21 from Jaquez.
The crosses of the first round of the playoffs of the East, therefore, are closed. They are played in the best of seven games. The Celtics, the best of the regular season, face Miami with the first game this Sunday and the second on Wednesday, both in Boston. The New York Knicks host the Philadelphia 76ers this Saturday and Monday to begin the series. The Milwaukee Bucks play at home against the Indiana Pacers this Sunday and the first two games of their matchup on Tuesday. The Cleveland Cavaliers also play Saturday and Monday at home against the Orlando Magic.
In the West, Oklahoma City Thunder plays the first two games on Sunday and Wednesday against the New Orleans Pelicans, who left out the Sacramento Kings this Friday. The champions Denver Nuggets host the Los Angeles Lakers (Saturday and Monday, to start); The Minnesota Timberwolves face the Phoenix Suns (Saturday and Tuesday, for now) and the Los Angeles Clippers play the Dallas Mavericks (Sunday and Tuesday).
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