Boston Celtics next: Heat in 5 | Heat Zone blog: Miami Heat & NBA news | The Pa

by Ethan J. Skolnick

This Boston group is making its last stand.

Now, though, the Heat stands in the way of the NBA Finals, and it?s hard to envision the Celtics having enough left to run Miami over.

Forget the 3-1 record for the Celtics against the Heat in the regular season. The Celtics caught the Heat twice at times Miami wasn?t playing well, and the fourth game was a throwaway, with Sasha Pavlovic starring against the Heat helpers, with neither side really running any plays.

Miami won?t have Chris Bosh, for at least the first few games, but Boston is beat up. Before the season, Doc Rivers had a deep supporting cast including Jeff Green, Avery Bradley, Jermaine O?Neal and Chris Wilcox. Now, all are out, with Bradley?s absence particularly critical, since his defensive quickness would have been useful against Dwyane Wade ? especially in light of Ray Allen?s limitations. Rivers has become one of the league?s exceptional coaches, but his roster is simply too thin.

The Heat has more trouble guarding Rajon Rondo than just about any player in the league, choosing to back off him and dare him to shoot jumpers ? something Rondo did surprisingly well down the stretch against Philadelphia. Rondo has rendered the Heat?s strategy silly, repeatedly given too much time to make decisions.

Still, I can?t see Boston taking advantage of Miami?s interior issues, and I can?t see Allen staying with Wade or Paul Pierce giving that much trouble, at this stage of his career and the season, to LeBron James. Miami now knows it can beat this team in the playoffs, after doing so in the second round last postseason.

?Let?s do it,? Kevin Garnett said of the Eastern Conference Finals starting.

The Heat will finish it in five.

Tags: Avery Bradley, Boston Celtics, Doc Rivers, Dwyane Wade, Kevin Garnett, LeBron James, Miami Heat, Rajon Rondo

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 26th, 2012 at 10:54 pm and is filed under 2010-11 season. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

kevin martin 2012 senior bowl chuck series finale welcome back kotter 2001 a space odyssey barefoot bandit polar bear plunge