Boston @ Miami preview
Kaseya Center
Last Meeting ( Jan 25, 2024 ) Boston 143, Miami 110
There will be a super matchup of Eastern Conference rivals Sunday afternoon when the Miami Heat play host to the Boston Celtics.
The game is a rematch of the 2023 Eastern Conference finals, when the No. 8-seeded Heat advanced in seven games over the No. 2-seeded Celtics. The Heat were seventh in the East at the start of play Saturday, while the Celtics are in first place, 12 games ahead of Miami.
The Celtics, who are an impressive 15-9 on the road, have been remarkably consistent. They have not lost consecutive games since dropping two straight in November - their only defeats in consecutive games this season.
Still, Boston has struggled at times to keep up its high level of play. On Friday, the host Celtics on Friday defeated the lowly Washington Wizards 133-129 in an underwhelming performance.
"I do think there have been moments of slippage throughout games," Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said. "What I care about more is our approach to those slippages."
When there are those slip-ups, the Celtics can turn to their five starters - all of whom average double figures in scoring.
Jayson Tatum leads the way with an active streak of five straight All-Star Game appearances. He was named first-team All-NBA the past two seasons.
Tatum, who turns 26 next month, tops the Celtics in scoring at 27.0 points per game, as well as rebounding at 8.4. He is tied for second in assists at 4.6.
Boston's other double-figure scorers are three-time All-Star Jaylen Brown at 22.1 points. Kristaps Porzingis (20.2), Derrick White (15.5) and Jrue Holiday (13.3) round out the group.
Structurally, the Heat are set up essentially the same way, with three 20-point-plus scorers: Jimmy Butler (21.4); Tyler Herro (20.9) and Bam Adebayo (20.2).
But while the set-up is similar, the head-to-head matchups have favored the Celtics.
The Celtics lead the season series 2-0. Boston edged visiting Miami 119-111 in the second game of the season. More recently, the Celtics clobbered the host Heat 143-110 on Jan. 25.
In that second game, the Heat had all three of their top scorers available, and they also played with recently-acquired Terry Rozier.
Yet, that was the most points Boston has ever scored against Miami, and it's also the most lopsided game in a series that now includes 172 contests.
The Celtics embarrassed the Heat, shooting 63.7 percent from the floor while outrebounding Miami 47-31.
"What went wrong is that we faced a very potent offensive team that's been doing this for several months now," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "It was a humbling night. They put us in our place."
Since that game, the Heat have gone 4-3, including a 116-104 home win over visiting San Antonio on Wednesday in their most recent performance. Miami is 15-12 in home games this season, while winning each of the past two contests in its own building.
Butler had a triple-double Wednesday - his first in more than two years - posting 17 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.
"My focus," Butler said, "is always to win."
--Field Level Media