Exactly one year ago, Miami surprised all and eliminated Boston during the Eastern Conference Finals. The truth is that the Celtics deserved better last campaign, as they also led the NBA throughout regular season. This year they repeated history with a 64-18 mark during the 82-game stage, but now punished the Heat after only 5 first-round playoff games.
Leading the pack were Jaylen Brown and Derrick White, who both dropped 25 points each, sending their team to their conference’ semifinals after an overwhelming 118-84 triumph on Wednesday evening. Now the Massachusetts club awaits the winner from the Cavaliers-Magic series, as Cleveland lead 3-2.
The All-Star guard revealed that he didn’t care too much about taking revenge on Miami. “It is a lot of history, back and forth. But it didn’t matter who it was,” Brown shared. “We just had to get the job done.”
“We’re not going to put this on the fact that we’ve had some injuries, let’s not take anything away from Boston. They were, they’ve been the best team in basketball all season long.”
— Erik Spoelstra on #Celtics
📺Full #Heat Postgame Interview: https://t.co/MPgtDADc5Z… pic.twitter.com/GdWskbQdAM
— Celtics on CLNS (@CelticsCLNS) May 2, 2024
The same sentiment was expressed by teammate Jayson Tatum. “I think this is my fourth time playing them in playoffs,” the forward said. “They all count the same. … We did our job. We took care of business.”
On the losing side, Bay Adebayo led the charge with his 23-point performance, alongside Tyler Herro’s 15 for Miami. The South Beach squad struggled shooting from range, going only 3 of 29, which resulted in their first playoff exit prior to the Conference Finals since 2021.
Despite the Boston players saying they weren’t searching for revenge, Heat’s Erik Spoelstra was convinced that they played with blood in their eyes. “They probably had something to motivate them even more against us,” the coach said.
Adebayo, on the other hand, simply embraces the new lessons learned. “We’ve gained a lot of mental toughness,” he said. “Going through that as a captain, it helped me understand that the ship’s going to get rocky sometimes.”
With Kristaps Porzingis recovering from injury, Boston needed Al Horford to step up now more than ever
A couple of days ago, it was confirmed that Kristaps Porzingis would be out for an indefinite amount of time as he was diagnosed with a right soleus strain. This is why the team depended on Al Horford to step up his game in the Latvian center’s absence.
“The way that I approach things, it’s about whatever I can do to help our team win, put us in the best position, and how I can impact a team with that,” the veteran said postgame. “And my mindset was simple. When that happened, I had a choice to make, and ultimately I know what I can bring to a team and the things that I can do. I just had to do it in a different way now and in a way that I’m not used to.
In his old age, Horford knows he’s not a starter, but should always be ready for action. “Ultimately, it was like, ‘I accept it, I stay the course, and when my opportunities come … I’ll be ready for that.’ Throughout the season, it happened, and now that it’s happened, I had to be ready to step up,” he shared.
Now the Celtics team will have a short rest before the semifinals, and hope it is time enough for their starting big man to recover. “We’re just going to give it a week and see where he’s at,” coach Joe Mazzulla said. “See how he responds to the treatment over the next week.”
