The Miami Heat are heading to the Eastern Conference Finals for the 2nd time in the past three years. With the Celtics defeating the Bucks in Game 7, they’ll play a Miami team for the chance to advance to the NBA Finals. The last time these teams met in the playoffs was the Eastern Conference Finals in the 2020 season. Tyler Herro was a big factor in those games, including a 37-point performance in Game 4 that turned the tide of the series. Miami won that series 4-2 to advance to the Finals, where they ultimately lost to the Lakers.
These two teams have both played 11 games in these playoffs so far. The Celtics are averaging 37% from three in the playoffs while the Heat are averaging 32.1%. Both teams have been elite defensively, with Miami having a defensive rating of 104.6 and Boston having a defensive rating of 105.2. These teams have two superstars in Jayson Tatum and Jimmy Butler who will be going head-to-head all series. Jayson Tatum is leading the Celtics in scoring with 28.3 points and 6.1 assists, while Jimmy Butler is averaging 27.5 points and 7.5 rebounds.
Miami and Boston only played three times in the regular season, with the Celtics winning two of those games. Despite Herro showing out last time he played Boston in the playoffs, he didn’t have much of an impact against them in the regular season. Herro averaged 10.3 points and 6.3 rebounds on 30.2% shooting in 3 games against the Celtics this season. He’ll have to be more efficient in this series for the Heat to counter the Celtics’ elite defense. Max Strus has seen success against the Celtics, averaging 20.5 points and 5 rebounds in 2 games this season.
Miami will have to slow down Tatum to stifle their offense, similar to what they’ve done with Trae Young and James Harden in the last two series. They’ve defended him well in the regular season, holding him to just 17.7 points and 8.3 rebounds in 3 games against the Heat. This is a series that will be a defensive battle and could easily take all 7 games to determine the winner.
