Poll: Celtics vs. Heat Series Predictions

[bdm860]

I expect game 1 to be a blowout, though it could be either team doing the blowing out.

C's prob drop Game 1 due to an exhausting series. That's prob the game we can afford coasting. But fully expect us to steal Game 2. But if they show resilience, maybe they steal two games on the road 

I wonder if we'll ever see a team punt a playoff game. 

Not that we'll see it here. But hypothetically if Milwaukee won today, they'd be on the road for a week (they probably got into Boston Saturday and then will head straight to Miami without returning to Milwauekee until Friday).

If your team is going into a road game exhausted against a rested team and only one day off between games for possibly the next 7 games (making it a stretch of 12 total), would it make sense to rest your starters Game 1 on the road? Probably gives you a better chance of stealing the 2nd game and stealing home court advantage.

Crazy idea, but I think it actually makes some sense.

Also makes a statement to the league that the players want some rest games. (And the Finals is overloaded with rest games, shift one or two of those to the Conference Finals, though to be fair teams are more likely to be flying cross country in the Finals which should get more rest and the league wants to maximize the Finals games on good viewvership days while making sure a potential game 7 lands on Sunday so probably not much you can do there).

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

Key is Rob. Much more important in this series that we have him.

Other key X factor is Oladipo, who is finally healthy and improves their perimeter defense.

Assuming Rob healthy, Celtics in 6.

i forgot about viktor. wow. miami has plenty talent.

[slamtheking]

tough call.  a lot depends on the availability of Timelord (and his effectiveness) and Lowry.   head says Heat in 7 -- they're tough and battle tested.  heart says C's in 6.  Heat didn't win the division and get to the ECF without being a really good team

Head says Miami 

home court for Miami.  Bam and Jimmy have been doing well in the playoffs and are tough for us to deal with.  add in Herro and Robinson bombing from outside, it's not going to be a cakewalk for the C's. 

on the plus side, they don't have anyone on the same level as Durant, Kyrie or Giannis to contend with but they are genuine "team".

We've been pretty good at handling Butler relatively. Lowry is hurt, who is the guy I would have been most worried about. Adebayo has struggled against us this season. Robinson doesn't even really play - it's Herro & Strus who might hurt us from deep, but not with how our defence has played.

If Rob is healthy I think this is over in 4 or 5. If he misses games I think we win in 6

I'd love a sweep but I'm trying to keep my optimism under control. 

[JSD]

The Celtics have been to the Eastern Conference Finals 4 of the last 6 years. They finally break through this year and make a Finals appearance. They steal game 2, Hold home, then wrap it up at home.


Celtics in 6

[dannyboy35]

  Heat in 7

[gouki88]

  Heat in 7

You sure do seem to love being wrong.

[LilRip]

C’s in 6. I have more faith in this group now that we don’t have a Kemba on our roster. Even Pritchard shows more fight than Kemba and punches above his weight class. Spoelstra was always the X factor but Ime has been amazing this year.

[ozgod]

Cs in 7. They should be able to win at least one game away. Winning the Milwaukee series will give the team a lot of confidence since they bounced back from adversity a couple of times when the season was on the line and were able to win away. I felt before the series that Milwaukee was the best team they had to play and they've gotten over that hump.

That said, I feel that Spoelstra is a better, more adaptive coach than Bud. Bud can be stubborn when it comes to making adjustments, like letting the Cs fire away from 3 when they were shooting the ball well because he wasn't prepared to concede paint points. Spoelstra will adapt much better. But I like our matchup vs. Miami, they don't have a Giannis we have to worry about but they have shooters like Strus, Herro, Tucker and even the out of favor Robinson. Not having Lowry will be a big loss for them though.

I say Cs in 7.

[ozgod]

  Heat in 7

You sure do seem to love being wrong.

Might be a bit of reverse psychology. Expect losses and you will never be disappointed and may even be pleasantly surprised 

[SparzWizard]

Already seeing some analysts picking Heat in 7, Heat in 6 etc like Skip Bayless

"Jimmy Buckets is a different animal in the playoffs"
"The Heat are the best 3pt shooting team and D in the playoffs. Remember they demolished Boston in the bubble"
"Miami deep with Butler, Bam, Herro, Tucker, Lowry, Struss, Oladipo, Vincent, Robinson...the Celtics ain't faced no one yet"

Bubble Celtics and 2022 Celtics two different teams. One is they no longer get to box-and-1 Kemba anymore as he's no longer on the C's. Two is we have Horford back, who should be one of the many big bodies for Bam to put up against. Three is JT and JB are much grown. If they got past superstar duo Irving/Durant and the "greatest player in the world" Giannis...then they should be able to neutralize Jimmy Butler.

C's will have to play that underdog role in this series. Looks like they opened the line with Miami at -2.

[Birdman]

I said Warriors-Celtics in finals before playoffs

[Kiorrik]

I said Warriors-Celtics in finals before playoffs

I said Nets Lakers before the season.

lulz

[cman88]

Maybe I'm not as scared of the heat as some here. Milwaukee was going to be the toughest team as they are such a long and tall team who can keep the Celtics out of the paint. Bucks also have good three point shooting and we were all over their shooters.

I expect us to be all over their shooters again. And Miami is a smaller team so Tatum and brown should have more to work with.

In 2020 no horford and they abused kemba on offense.

I say Celtics in 6. They just have better talent.

[mig3zwo]

match up wise, I'd say, we got this...
I just hope, Strus, Herro and Robinson don't have a lot of open 3s... these guys are dangerous.
Jimmy Buckets will show up and deliver, too. I hope the Jays don't foul out early.

C's in 6

[cman88]

match up wise, I'd say, we got this...
I just hope, Strus, Herro and Robinson don't have a lot of open 3s... these guys are dangerous.
Jimmy Buckets will show up and deliver, too. I hope the Jays don't foul out early.

C's in 6

Big difference between Milwaukee and Miami is you don't have Gianni's barreling down at you where you might have to double. which opens up the shooters. And we still were pretty decent at closing out on them. Tatum should be able to take Jimmy then stay on all their shooters.

Honestly, this is the series where we need Robert Williams. He will be more effective against the heat than against the length of Milwaukee. Hopefully the added rest from yesterday not needing to play will have him ready