The Celtics were so close to shooting themselves in the foot and costing themselves their season. It took quite a lot of magic from Toronto to push it to 7 games, but it also took a lot of negligence from the players wearing green. The Celtics played almost exactly as I predicted they would, relying on strong defense and situational playmaking.
However, Boston has a new task ahead of them in Miami. The Heat have shooters. A lot of them. They have a lot of players who have no issue pulling up from deep, and will make the shots when they count more often than not. That’s the thing that killed Toronto, was their inability to make the big shots in order to win four games out of seven. It happened twice, don’t get me wrong, but (without stating the obvious) two games isn’t going to win you a best-of-seven series.
Erik Spoelstra is also a better coach than people give him credit for. You don’t take down the ever-dominant Bucks the way they did without good coaching. A lot of people thought he only achieved the success he had because of LeBron… I think we can officially determine that is not the case.
Boston is going to have to play even better than they did against Toronto if they want to prevent this from going another 7 games. The thing is, they’re absolutely capable of it too. If Marcus Smart is your best 3pt shooter (no knock to Marcus), you’ve got the ability to improve. Smart played an incredible series against the Raptors, and that’s his new standard. Is it it sustainable? That’s a question he’s going to have to ask himself. But Kemba, Tatum, Brown, and Theis are going to have to keep their momentum as well. Keep in mind, this is the furthest Kemba’s gone in the postseason in his career, so as much of a veteran as he is, I absolutely expect nerves from him, but they can’t last long, and he has to stay healthy (knock on wood).
This is a matchup that, I believe, favors Boston, but only if the Celtics play to what they’re capable of. Brad Stevens already took down the Coach of the Year. Now it’s time for him to prove his worth and at the very least make it to an NBA Finals.

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