On the Garden's video board high above the court, highlights of the Miami Heat started flashing. They weren't just any highlights, either. The highlights were of the Heat celebrating last year's playoff win over the Celtics, in which they dispatched the C's in five games.
Now, with the Celtics putting the finishing touches on a Game 7 win over the 76ers, no time was wasted in looking ahead to the next series.
That makes all the sense in the world, too, because the Celtics really don't have any time to sit around and wait. They'll get just one day to prepare for the Heat, with the Eastern Conference finals beginning Monday in Miami.
Celtics coach Doc Rivers admitted that he would have liked to see his team finish off their two series in quicker fashion — instead they took 13 out of a possible 14 games to do so — but that obviously didn't happen. Regardless, he and his team are ready for the challenge.
"I'm hoping we've done a good enough job of resting," he said. "We didn't practice one time during this entire series, which is unheard of in the playoffs if you think about it. We walked through stuff — literally. We didn't run.
"[Sunday] we'll watch film, we'll have a walkthrough, and we'll go play a game. [Sunday's] off, and then Monday's off for most of the day, and then we'll go play."
When the Celtics do go play, it will be against a familiar foe, an opponent the C's have had success against this season. The Celtics went 3-1 against the Heat this season, including a win at American Airlines Center.
"It gives us some sort of confidence," Paul Pierce said after the game. "We know we are capable of going in their building and getting the win."
While acknowledging the regular season success is nice, Pierce was also quick to note that things are different in the playoffs.
"They're a different team," Pierce said. "They're a playoff mindset team now. … They are going to be more difficult than they were in the playoffs than they were in the regular season."
And while the Garden video board may have offered a reminder of what happened last year, the Celtics aren't exactly ready to think about that series now.
"Last year is in the past," point guard Rajon Rondo said. "This year we are a totally different team. We feel we can beat Miami. Obviously we got to this point. There's no doubt in my mind that we can, so we gotta go down there and take care of business."
It obviously won't be easy. The lack of rest certainly won't help a banged-up team that isn't getting any younger. Throw in the fact that the Celts won't have Avery Bradley to try to slow Dwyane Wade, and the task seems all the more daunting.
If that all proves to be too much for the Celtics, however, they won't be offering any excuses.
"We'll be ready," Rivers said. "It's going to be a tough turnaround, but listen, we're not an excuse team. We'll be ready Monday."
