This is what we've been waiting for all season long. Admit it. You may tell people that getting back to the Finals and hoisting Banner 18 is all that matters. But, if you're like me, the Heat have been on your mind ever since the Decision aired in July. Then, seeing this disgusting spectacle, in which Dwyane Wade calls the Heat's big three "arguably the greatest trio ever to play the game of basketball" before they'd even played a game together, made them public enemy #1.
While we knew this matchup was inevitable all along, it's surely coming one round sooner than we thought. We all expected it to happen in the Eastern Conference Finals because that's where the two best teams in the East end up. This year will be an exception. All the respect in the world to our man Thibs in Chicago, but these are the two best teams in the East. I am fully confident that the winner of this series, barring major injury, will go on to represent the Eastern Conference in the finals.
To say that the national media are off the Celtics bandwagon is inaccurate, because they were never on it. Many of them were predicting a first round Knicks upset. Now, despite the Celtics being the only team to sweep their first round opponent, the so-called experts still seem to think the Celtics have no shot in this series. On Monday ESPN Insider featured this piece by predictive expert Austin Link. In the piece, Link says the following:
"The Celtics had the lowest offensive rebounding rate in the league this year. Historically, that would mark them as possible playoff underperformers."
As soon as I read that tidbit, I knew this article was useless. The Celtics have been a poor offensive rebounding team throughout the Pierce/Garnett/Allen era. Doc Rivers has said time and time again when questioned about it that he does not care about offensive rebounding. His team moves the ball well offensively, and they find the best shot possible, and then they get back on defense. So, those poor numbers are by design.
In the past three postseasons, despite being a poor offensive rebounding team, the Celtics have been anything but playoff underperformers. They won an NBA title. They made it to game 7 of round 2 against Orlando without Kevin Garnett. They came all the way from the 4 seed and found themselves just minutes away from winning another title. I'm sure that in many cases a lack of offensive rebounding can be an indicator of playoff performance. But, not when the team is purposefully passing up the opportunities. Don't you need to know SOMETHING about the team you're discussing to be featured on ESPN? Apparently not.
John Hollinger is picking the Heat in 5 games. He had the following to say about the Celtics on Monday:
"Winning in four is impressive, regardless of the opposition, but those first two home games against New York's full roster were hardly encouraging ... and that was against an average team, not against a contender like Miami. I still think the Heat will breeze past them fairly easily in the next round."
I understand the guy bases everything he says on his stats, but it's hard not to take that as a slap in the face. Of all the analysis that has come out thus far regarding the Heat and Celtics, the angle that I find most frustrating is the one which suggests the Celtics sweep should be completely disregarded because the Knicks were banged up. You have to play whoever you're slated to play. It's not like the Heat just finished off the '97 Chicago Bulls. They played a team with less star power than the Knicks, and they had some pretty close wins just like the Celtics did. I'm not saying the Celtics should be favored because they swept New York. But, to me it seems like the two teams performed similarly. I certainly don't see how the Heat were more impressive.
The Celtics with this big 4 have never underperformed in the postseason, and this is why it's so surprising to me that so many analysts are taking Miami. The playoffs bring out the best in the Celtics, and I think we already saw our first glimpse of that happening this season in games 3 and 4 against New York. Kevin Garnett in particular is looking better than he has since the 2008 title run. Rajon Rondo seems to have recaptured his mojo, and this was a big key to the 3 regular season wins the Celtics had against Miami. If the Celtics are playing at their peak, I believe they'll take this series.
Don't get me wrong. I think Miami is phenomenal, and I love watching them. If you don't like watching LeBron James and Dwyane Wade play basketball, then it's hard for me to believe that you really love basketball at all. While I think LeBron was a little overzealous in predicting 7 titles before the season had even begun, I do believe this group will win multiple championships when it's all said and done. A team that talented that defends as intensely as they do, barring major injuries, is bound to.
But not this year.
We'll have Q&A segments with Heat writers over the next few days, and more posts coming once play gets underway.
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