2022 NBA ECF Playoffs Series Thread Heat (1) vs Celtics (2) Celtics win 4-3

[kdspurman]

Heat vs. Celtics

Game 1: Celtics @ Heat, Tuesday, May 17, 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN

Game 2: Celtics @ Heat, Thursday, May 19, 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN

Game 3: Heat @ Celtics, Saturday, May 21, 8:30 p.m. ET, ABC

Game 4: Heat @ Celtics, Monday, May 23, 8:30 p.m. ET, ABC

*Game 5: Celtics @ Heat, Wednesday, May 25, 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN

*Game 6: Heat @ Celtics, Friday, May 27, 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN

*Game 7: Celtics @ Heat, Sunday, May 29, 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN

*Games 5-7 if necessary

[Dade County]

Back at it again Boston fans.

You know what time it is!

[Heediot]

Celtics in 6.

[More-Than-Most]

My true hell jesus christ.... I need the heat to win even though beasted is a turd but i think the celtics are the far superior team and win in 5.

[TylerSL]

These two teams are actually a lot more similar than most people probably realize. Defensively they actually do a lot of the same things, in terms of switching often and showing many different coverages, and they are both extremely versatile. The Heat do have the highest defensive rating in the playoffs, but Boston probably has the better defense overall while the Heat are a deeper team. Miami held the best record in the conference for a majority of the season and Boston was the best team in basketball from January through the end of the season. These are the teams that belong in the ECF. While Giannis is an all time great player, and I picked the Bucks to beat the Celtics, but Milwaukee had a chance to be #2 and get a Game 7 in the Conference Semi Finals at home. They chose not to because they wanted to avoid the Nets in round 1 and didn't value being the home team of a playoff series down the road high enough, and the Celtics outplayed them in Games 6 and 7

Currently speaking, the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics are the biggest success stories in the Eastern Conference this season, and so it's only fitting that they compete for a trip to the Finals. Historically speaking, these are also the two best teams from the Eastern Conference in the last decade or so, and this will be the fifth playoff series between these teams in the last 13 postseasons (and third conference finals series in the last 11 seasons). This is the continuation of an intense rivalry between teams that always seem to get in each other's way.

As for what happens in this series, I pick the Heat in 7. Even though the media doesn't talk about it, I think Jimmy Butler has been the best performing player in the playoffs, and I think he's the best player in the series. I don't think he's going to feast on the Celtics in the same way he did against the Hawks and Sixers, but I think he's going to be a big play maker and set guys up to succeed. He's been averaging 29 points a game on over 52% shooting so far in the playoffs, but I expect he'll be around a 23-25 ppg scorer on low to mid 40% shooting in this series. It's going to take the supporting cast, primarily the 3 point shooters, to step up if the Heat are going to win the series.

Same goes for Boston however, I think the Heat are going to defend Tatum well. He's going to see a lot of different people guarding him throughout the series. Sometimes it will be PJ Tucker, sometimes Butler, sometimes Bam, and sometimes Oladipo. I expect the Heat to fight through more screens this series as opposed to just switching every time. They'll do this as a way to contest the 3 point shooting of the Celtics, who have hit 38% of their 3's this postseason.

I pick the Heat in 7, but this is such a close series, and I think the games will be so tight, I think it could very easily be Heat in 6 instead, or Celtics 6 or 7. It's very hard to beat a team four times in the playoffs, and I think this series is even harder because I believe the winner of this series is going to outmatch their NBA Finals opponents. This is the real series for both teams IMO, and I think it's 50/50.

[Tg11]

Got this series going 7 games with us Boston Celtics winning it in 7 (4-3)

[Scoots]

Got this series going 7 games with us Boston Celtics winning it in 7 (4-3)

You don't think the Celtics are going to win it in 7 (5-2)?

[hugepatsfan]

I think when both teams are on their game, Boston is better. But I trust Miami to stay on their game more. Boston still reverts to bad tendencies. That’s honestly why the MIL series went 7 games. Bostons 4 wins were by 18 points/game. 15 points per game even if you treat game 7 as an outlier because MIL kind of hit a wall in the 4th. But Boston flat out gave away 2 games down the stretch because they’re prone to that.

Reason why I say Boston is better when on their game is because while both teams play GREAT team defense, MIA has a few guys that have to be individually hidden from tough matchups. Boston has so no such guys. Jaylen Brown is the worst defender on our team who will play more than 10 minutes. There really is no favorable matchup to seek out against Boston. They don’t have to cover for anyone.

And then on the offensive side, I think we’ve got a little more juice. Guys like Smart, Grant Williams, Derrick White, Horford, Rob Williams are all really good passers. Miamis non star players I think are a little more limited than Boston’s.

I think those factors give Boston the edge over Miami if they play to it, but my big question is if they can avoid falling into bad habits when things get tough. And Miami will certainly make it tough.

[Lil Rhody]

Late start can kiss my ***

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

[Redrum187]

I'm curious who non-"HEAT" and non-Celtic fans think the best player in the series is: Jayson Tatum or Jimmy Butler

For me, Jimmy Butler is the better playoff performer but I'm not sure it's that significant a gap to be the deciding factor in this series. This should be fun to watch.

[Scoots]

Late start can kiss my ***

Better than the Western Finals.

[AntiG]

Late start can kiss my ***

Eh at least it gives time for us commuters to get back before the start. Some of those 7pm starts the last couple of series really sucked where I missed the 1st quarter or 1st half.

[Redrum187]

Jimmy Butler must have poisoned Herro's cup of coffee because Herro has been playing like dog s--t...

Tyler Herro is too busy trying to be the ugly version of Machine Gun Kelly that his postseason production has been absolute garbage. Miami needs Herro to not be such a bad chucker that he is accustomed to being and score 20 ppg efficiently. And I don't even mean his regular season efficiency... 17 shots to get under 21 ppg is not going to cut it in this series either.

Butler needs an efficient 20+ ppg scoring Herro and Bam to show up every game to make this a series.

[Lil Rhody]

Better than the Western Finals.

Ya but that makes sense because of the teams. Even though Dallas is central time. I'm just cranky because that 430 AM alarm comes quick

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

[Redrum187]

Ya but that makes sense because of the teams. Even though Dallas is central time. I'm just cranky because that 430 AM alarm comes quick

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

Idk, I'm pretty sure Butler's and Jayson's own mothers are more hyped about a Luka/Mavs vs Curry/GSW matchup.