Boston Celtics up against it as they take on Miami Heat in Game 2 of Eastern Conference Finals – NBA Playoffs Preview
The Boston Celtics are not a happy camp to be in at the moment. Two days after beating the Philadelphia 76ers in game 7 of their Eastern Conference Semi Final series, they flew down to Miami to face the Miami Heat in game 1 of
the Eastern Conference Finals.
And the Celtics seemed to be off their game with Miami cruising to an easy 93-79 victory. The Heat scored 19 layups and dunks in game 1 and were allowed to play their type of fast paced transition basketball. The men from the South
Beach controlled the tempo of the game from the get go and the Celtics stood no chance against them in that type of competition.
"There wasn't a lot of happy guys in our locker room yesterday or in film today when we start out by showing 19 straight layups. Who wants to watch that? I didn't. I watched it four or five times” said Celtics coach Doc Rivers.
LeBron James and Dwyane Wade combined to score 54 points in Game 1, but the important fact is that the rest of the team added 39 points and 32 rebounds. However, Coach Erik Spoelstra thought that there were still some things that
the Heat needed to improve on.
"I think we all felt that we could have played better. But that's the playoffs. You have to find a way to survive and win, even if you have to do it when you're not playing your best, like last night” said Spoelstra.
And the list of troubles seems to be getting bigger for the Celtics as Ray Allen said that his ankle injury seems to be worsening, causing even more problems for him than before. Allen is one of the star players of the Celtics
squad but his injury has made him irrelevant for the Celtics in the post season so far. A lethal shooter and three point specialist, Allen is shooting 29% from the field, 27% from the distance and 60% from the foul line so far in the playoffs.
He went 1 of 7 from the field in game 1 against Miami and even missed four free throws, only the third time in his career he has done so.
"I don't even like talking about it. It's just part of what I'm dealing with it” said Allen who did not take part in team workouts in Tuesday.
The Heat have had a stellar comeback in the post season after trailing the Indiana Pacers 2-1 in the Eastern Conference Semi Finals. Dwyane Wade and LeBron James have since picked up their game and are putting in extraordinary
numbers on a nightly basis, beating the Pacers 4-2 and now taking game 1 against the Celtics.
"For us, we're playing great team ball, especially in the fourth quarter. We're trusting each other a lot more. It comes with time” said Wade.
The Heat have been playing better because their role players have started contributing to the success of the team, which has lifted the pressure off James and Wade, and given them options on the court. The Celtics are aware of
that but realize that the only way of stopping Miami is to stop James and Wade. They will be looking to play more of Celtics basketball than Heat basketball in game 2 and would want to control the tempo of the game and force Miami to play at their pace.
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