ECF: (3) Boston Celtics vs Miami Heat (5) - Part 1

[Fencer reregistered]

This heat team is not the same team it was before the trade. Crowder might as well be Battier and Iggy plays great in his minutes. The guys we traded were mostly addition by subtraction with all due respect to Winslow.

How are Crowder's and/or Olynyk's games different than when they each were Celtics?

[goodboys lats]

This heat team is not the same team it was before the trade. Crowder might as well be Battier and Iggy plays great in his minutes. The guys we traded were mostly addition by subtraction with all due respect to Winslow.

I'll give you Crowder and of course Jimmy is great but Iggy looked cooked when I watched him. Tatum would love to have Iggy guarding him all game.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/i/iguodan01/gamelog-playoffs/

Just in the Bucks series where he played about 18 minutes a game.
+9 in a 9 point win in game 5.
+6 in a 2 point win in game 2.
+7 in an 11 point win in game 1.

I just know good things happen when he's on the court. Dude still has some of the best defensive hands in the game. Don't sleep on him in the clutch.

[goodboys lats]

This heat team is not the same team it was before the trade. Crowder might as well be Battier and Iggy plays great in his minutes. The guys we traded were mostly addition by subtraction with all due respect to Winslow.

How are Crowder's and/or Olynyk's games different than when they each were Celtics?

Crowder is playing out of his mind. Basically Shane Battier but a little bigger and stronger, maybe not quite the sniper but you would have me fooled just based on this postseason. It seems teams see him as the lesser of evils as far as leaving open and he has made both the Pacers and Bucks pay consisently.

Kelly is what he always is. Gets some rebounds, random defensive plays but generally below average on that end but has a really fast release for a big man on good 3pt efficiency and every once in a while he can put up 8-10 in a quarter for you. Great floor spacer.

[GotDaSauce]

This heat team is not the same team it was before the trade. Crowder might as well be Battier and Iggy plays great in his minutes. The guys we traded were mostly addition by subtraction with all due respect to Winslow.

I'll give you Crowder and of course Jimmy is great but Iggy looked cooked when I watched him. Tatum would love to have Iggy guarding him all game.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/i/iguodan01/gamelog-playoffs/

Just in the Bucks series where he played about 18 minutes a game.
+9 in a 9 point win in game 5.
+6 in a 2 point win in game 2.
+7 in an 11 point win in game 1.

I just know good things happen when he's on the court. Dude still has some of the best defensive hands in the game. Don't sleep on him in the clutch.

Numbers look good! Guess I wasn't seeing the little things he does. Can't wait for the match up either way.

[KingDavid]

Celts in 6. I think Raptors is the better opponent.

Heat have the better player, team and better coach. No way in hell. Put some respek on Miami.

lol you're delusional.

Did you already forget our conversation in PM?

[KingDavid]

Celtics are a bad matchup for the Heat. My heart is with the HEAT the homer in me wants them to win but I’ll say Celtics in 7.

Shoot you're generous. I feel the same way but have the Celtics winning in 5. Too many weapons to contain and they don't let you shoot threes whatsoever. Ugh. If Bam were an aggressive offensive player, I'd give us a bigger chance but that isn't the case.

[ChiCitySPORTS#1]

Boston seems more balanced on both ends. Miami was able to find success against the Bucks cuz they took away Giannis. This series will be different. Will be close but I have Boston in 6

[Vlade Divac]

Congratulations to Boston. They were better team and they deserve to win.

[Marvin Martian]

Before the season started who would've guessed that Miami would get this far?

I bet most people looked at them at as a "treadmill" team and thought that they had no future. They prove that you can stay competitive and with the right moves, plus a little luck, go on a long playoff run.

IDK. MIA has some nice young talent, but none of them projects to have superstar potential. They beat a fraudulent MIL team this year, but they don't stack up well against teams with superstar firepower in the future.

[PierceFan4ever]

Celtics in 6.

Good luck to both fanbases.

[Joshyjess]

Boston super stacked, like 4 players averaging 20ppg with playoff experience + depth, Kyrie should have stayed!

Do you really hate Boston that much???

[Saint Lazarus]

Celtics are a bad matchup for the Heat. My heart is with the HEAT the homer in me wants them to win but I’ll say Celtics in 7.

Shoot you're generous. I feel the same way but have the Celtics winning in 5. Too many weapons to contain and they don't let you shoot threes whatsoever. Ugh. If Bam were an aggressive offensive player, I'd give us a bigger chance but that isn't the case.

It’s going to be a great series.

Ps you’re the only heat fan I like in the entire world because you gave me love advice when I was heart broken 6 years ago

[fishfuego.]

Celtics are a bad matchup for the Heat. My heart is with the HEAT the homer in me wants them to win but I’ll say Celtics in 7.

Shoot you're generous. I feel the same way but have the Celtics winning in 5. Too many weapons to contain and they don't let you shoot threes whatsoever. Ugh. If Bam were an aggressive offensive player, I'd give us a bigger chance but that isn't the case.

I have no doubt that the toughest teams in the East are the Celtics and Heat. The Cs are tough on D but so are the Heat. The Cs can shoot 3s but so can the Heat. The Cs took care of Toronto in 7, while the Heat took care of the Bucks in 5.

I will make no prediction because each team has something the other team fears. But I'll be surprised if Butler allows the Heat to falter in 5.

[Jordan45822]

Rooting for the Heat just so my old friend from the Bulls, Jimmy Butler, can get to the Finals.

6 or 7 games max either way.

[themoneyteam2]

Tatum is about to face a gauntlet of Crowder, Iggy, Butler. He better tighten those handles before the series starts because that lot have some of the quickest hands in the league

I don’t think Tatum will worry much considering he just faced Anunoby, Siakam, and Lowry and they played defense on him like he was Kevin Durant...

You'll surely see what I mean when the series starts

Except he just went up against the #2 defense in the league while getting doubled most of the time he touched it lol. With Hayward out he got even more attention.

If Hayward comes back for most of this series that’s less attention that’ll be on him from Miami than what Toronto was throwing at him...

Do you watch the games or just read box scores?

[Fencer reregistered]

This heat team is not the same team it was before the trade. Crowder might as well be Battier and Iggy plays great in his minutes. The guys we traded were mostly addition by subtraction with all due respect to Winslow.

How are Crowder's and/or Olynyk's games different than when they each were Celtics?

Crowder is playing out of his mind. Basically Shane Battier but a little bigger and stronger, maybe not quite the sniper but you would have me fooled just based on this postseason. It seems teams see him as the lesser of evils as far as leaving open and he has made both the Pacers and Bucks pay consisently.

Kelly is what he always is. Gets some rebounds, random defensive plays but generally below average on that end but has a really fast release for a big man on good 3pt efficiency and every once in a while he can put up 8-10 in a quarter for you. Great floor spacer.

Kelly Olynyk has a FAST release??? That's a change!!

Brad Stevens literally coached the fans to yell "Shoot!!!" when Olynyk was open in Boston ...

[tanuki1031]

Whoever makes it out, please go all the way. Neither LA team should be rewarded for the paths they were gifted (injuries to Dame, CJ, Luka, KP + both opponents having gone through intense 7 game first rounds) and playing with an on/off switch that's stuck on off half the time.

Heat and Celtics should be rewarded for grinding out every possession of every game thus far against top teams.

[celticfan42487]

Good news I've put zero thought into this series. So I have nothing productive to add but look forward to hearing the experts break it down for me.

I also hate that this starts on Tuesday. Can we get at least a week off? Ideally a month.

But on paper at least neither team physically matchups up as an issue for the other. So both teams will be able to play their ideal style and whichever one of those wins out wins out.

I assume since it's 2020 the Heat will run a bunch of pick and rolls so who you start on who doesn't matter as much but a

Kemba v Dragic
Brown v D. Robinson
Smart v Butler
Tatum v Crowder
Theis v Bam

Seems like a pretty even matchup all around. No big things there that would cause one player to sit vs another (although Bam's athleticism will stand out vs Theis and yet through position and help defense I don't think it'll be like an Embiid situation where it's clear they just can't handle that matchup one on one)

It seems dumb to say, but I mean it really should just come down to how these teams shoot the 3. If Boston can either get hot or slow down the Heat and keep the 3 point differential close they should have a pretty good shot. Both teams have a lot of good defenders to throw at the main scorer for the other team. Should be plenty of good defense and turnovers as they struggle to score in the halfcourt against each other.

[WHITE_HOT_HEAT]

Finally!!!
Seemed like a long wait after a near sweep of the Bucks.. Too much time off can put you out of rhythm..

[WHITE_HOT_HEAT]

Imagine how Kyrie feels....