The Heat and Celtics finished the regular season as the Eastern Conference’s top two seeds. When they face off it’ll be like they’re looking in the mirror. Both are mentally and physically tough, with malleable, talented, egoless rosters that are far deeper than most realize.
It feels right for them to meet in the conference finals, a rematch two years removed from their margin-free, six-game battle inside the bubble. As two of the past decade’s most prideful organizations (the only team in the East with more wins since 2013 is Toronto), how their defenses deal with each other’s best player may very well decide who advances to the Finals.