BOSTON — While the Boston Celtics aren’t resting on familiarity entering their fifth Eastern Conference finals in the last seven years, their experience facing Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat is difficult to ignore.
The Celtics and Heat will take the floor in Game 1 at TD Garden on Wednesday, marking the third time since the forgettable NBA bubble. Most recently, Boston knocked out Miami in seven games last season.
The presence and skillset of Butler is equally as hard to forget.
“He plays with a spirit that a lot of you all see,” Jaylen Brown said Tuesday after Boston’s practice at the Auerbach Center. “He doesn’t back down. He doesn’t quit. He’s not afraid of nobody. And he can lead a group of guys to the Eastern Conference finals. So we’ve got to be ready for that challenge. We got some guys with some great spirits on our team, so it should be fun.”
Butler has averaged 31.1 points on 52.7% from the floor in 10 games this postseason. The Heat eliminated the top-seeded Milwaukee Buckers in a first-round gentleman’s sweep, in large part because Butler scored 56 and 42 in Games 4 and 5. He scored 24-plus point in each of Miami’s four second-round wins against the New York Knicks, as well.
“He’s a great player,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “He plays with a great mindset. It’s the same thing every series. We’re playing against great players in the NBA playoffs and, at the end of the day, it comes down to the type of mindset, the approach we have, the physicality we play with, and the details that we play with.”
Brown, however, acknowledged how the Heat have more than just Butler to worry about. He specifically mentioned midseason acquisition and veteran Kevin Love, Max Strus and Duncan Robinson. Those three complement the core of Butler and Bam Adebayo (18.1 ppg per game this postseason).
“We got some experience, but that Miami team is looking to atone from last year. They’re gonna come out and play hungry, come out fighting. We got to be the harder-playing team,” Brown said. “They’ve had a tremendous story, being able to go all the way from the play-in and just steamroll through the playoffs. We just got to come out, set the tone with our energy and try to cool them off a little bit.”
Brown added: “It’s not the same team as last year. Jimmy (Butler) is still Jimmy and Spo (head coach Erik Spoelstra) is still Spo, but we got to make sure that we’re aware of everybody else.”
The Celtics opened as a massive betting favorite in the best-of-seven and currently are an 8-point home favorite in Game 1.
