2023-05-15 22:00:04
The Miami Heat take on the Boston Celtics for the third time in four years that the Eastern Conference title game will be identical. Do I think the Heat will successfully continue the legend of the old eight to the championship game, or the talented Celtics will touch the floor of the championship game once more and complete their UNFIN18HED BUSINESS? Let’s review their playoff journey, discuss their offensive and defensive strategies and the confrontation between the two sides!
Both sides’ respective playoff journeys
To use one word to describe the Heat’s journey this season, “Underdog” might not be more appropriate. The Heat’s routine throughout the regular season is almost exactly the same as in previous seasons. But not only were their offense and defense seen through, but the team’s outside firepower was not as good as before, which directly caused the Heat to stumble this season. Constantly hovering on the edge of the play-offs, the team also lost last year’s competitiveness.
First, during the offseason, Philadelphia poached important rotation forward PJ Tucker, which led to the fact that Caleb Martin, a 6-foot-5, swingman figure, was used as a power forward throughout the regular season. Except for Haywood Highsmith, who is fit but inexperienced, Jimmy Butler is the one to carry it. Fortunately, he succeeded in signing Kevin Love, who was waived by the Cavaliers, with a two-year exception, and barely found a solution for the forward.
But the Heat’s run-in was not very smooth, and in the end they barely won the seventh seed with a record of 44 wins and 38 losses. Lost to the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the playoffs. Fortunately, in the second game, the soldiers used their lives to win the Chicago Bulls and break into the playoffs at the buzzer.
As a result, in the first round of the playoffs, facing the league’s top talented Milwaukee Bucks, although before the start of this round of the series, many experts predicted that the Bucks, who were overwhelmed by player talent and overall lineup, would easily promotion. To make matters worse, the Heat lost the team’s main players Tyler Herro and Victor Oladipo in Game 1 and Game 3 respectively. Although the opponent’s main player Giannis Antetokounmpo was also injured in the game, but in comparison, the Heat are still an underdog.
As a result, the Heat’s outside touch suddenly returned to normal in the first round, or it went from one abnormality to another extreme abnormality, jumping from 34.4% in the league’s bottom four in the regular season to the highest in the first round. 45% of the grade. Although this is partly due to the Bucks’ strategy of constantly sticking to the penalty area and throwing outside shots. But this touch, coupled with Jimmy Butler’s explosion throughout the series, averaged 37 points per game, completely crushing the league’s top defender Jrue Holiday. In the fourth game, he used 56 points in a single game to write his own playoff myth, leading the Heat to victory over the Bucks all the way, and engraved the legend of the old eight with a big score of 4 to 1.
Facing Nick in the second round is a battle that I think is relatively close in strength. The Knicks have Jalen Brunson, the No. 2 guard in the East, plus Julius Randle, a top-three team in the league, young star RJ Barrett and several good rotation engineers. In the heat’s injury-ridden state, although Butler’s ankle injury caused him to miss the second game, he unfortunately lost this game. However, under the tactics of confrontation between the coaches of the two sides, the Heat led by Eric Spoelstra successfully defeated the Knicks in 6 games, and once once more advanced to the Eastern Conference championship game.
In contrast, the Celtics are still a better and more talented team despite not being able to fully staff all season. As the team with the second highest odds of the championship before the start of the regular season, the Celtics have the strongest rotation in the league. The starting White and Smart are all backcourt players who have been selected to the league’s best defensive team. Tatum and Brown have the league’s best defensive team. The strongest wing firepower, the strongest wing partner in the league, and the center has Al Horford, a veteran in the field. Also on the bench are sixth man Brogdon, excellent engineer Grant Williams and defensive center Robert Williams III, who has a poor attendance rate but is healthy for the playoffs.
Even though Danilo Gallinari, a new aid signed in the offseason, was reimbursed for the entire season due to an ACL injury before the season and needed surgical treatment, it did not damage the strength of the Celtics at all. Not only did they sit firmly at the top of the Eastern Conference in the first half of the season, but they also made an excellent start with 35 wins and 12 losses, and even had a proud record of nine consecutive victories. After the whole season, the Celtics’ record of 57 wins and 25 losses also ranks second in the league, only one win away from the first Bucks.
In terms of individual player honors this season, Jayson Tatum was successfully selected to the First Team of the Year, Jaylen Brown was selected to the Second Team of the Year, Brogdon was the Sixth Man of the Year, and White was also selected to the Second Team of the Year Defensive for the first time in his career. Compared with the “Underdog” Heat, these halos and honors can be described as the gap between the rich second generation and ordinary people. It can also be seen that the Celtics are a talented team.
In the first round of the playoffs, facing the Atlanta Hawks, who defeated the Heat in the playoffs, the Celtics hardly suffered many tests. Although the first round went very well, the content of the game was not very good-looking. This is a common problem of the Green Army throughout the year. Although the Hawks’ ability to handle the response from the flanks is not good, so Young is often forced to take difficult shots, so that the Celtics’ offensive problem is not so big compared to the Celtics, but Shuang Tanhua’s ability to handle the ball is still questioned by everyone.
Especially in the second round, facing the 76ers in the series, it can be seen from the game that Tatum entered the game too slowly and Brown might not support the team alone. Coupled with the slow adjustment of coach Mazzulla in the game, it was the main reason why the team once fell behind to a 2-3 situation. Although in the end we relied on Tatum’s personal ability to win the sixth and seventh games, but in terms of the content of the game alone, if Harden breaks out in 3 or 4 games in 7 games, or if the opposing coach is not Doc Rivers, the Celtics can finally win. It’s hard to say if you can’t pass the second round. With such a thrilling pass, I believe that there are many adjustments and deployments in the green army.
1684211453
#NBA #Playoff #Celtics #Heat #Playoff #Analysis #Talent #Underdog #NBA #Basketball
