The Celtics were massive favorites in the Eastern Conference finals, largely because the talent disparity between them and the Heat is a massive gulf.
Once again, however, Boston failed to play to its potential, instead playing down to its opponent and waiting until being pushed to its absolute limit before finally fighting back. The first counter-punch came in a Game 4 win at Miami, and the second came Thursday night in a Game 5 blowout at TD Garden.
Now, it almost feels inevitable the Celtics become the first team in NBA history to erase an 0-3 deficit to win a playoff series. It would be fitting, too. Of the 150 teams to lose the first three contests in a series, none have been more talented, especially compared to their opponents, than the Celtics.
And that’s in part what Heat superstar Jimmy Butler got wrong in his press conference following Game 5. Butler again tried to call his shot after displaying confidence following the Game 4 loss in Miami. Once again Thursday night, Butler calmly said the Heat will win the series when it goes back to Miami.
He said something else, though, that didn’t make as many headlines, something that is certainly up for debate.
“The last two games are not who we are. It just happened to be that way,” Butler told reporters Thursday night after Game 5. “We stopped playing defense halfway because we didn’t make shots that we want to make. But that’s easily correctable. You just have to come out and play harder from the jump. Like I always say, it’s going to be all smiles and we are going to keep it very, very, very consistent, knowing that we are going to win next game.”
The pseudo-guarantee isn’t necessarily the thing to push back on. That’s a confident star trying to rally his group. Where Butler misses the mark is that the last two games are who Miami is, especially if the Celtics want it to be that way.
The Heat literally were the final team into the Eastern Conference playoffs. Erik Spoelstra’s team won just 44 games in the regular season. Butler is their only real star, especially considering Bam Adebayo’s backslide. The Heat are even worse off without the injured Tyler Herro. That an injury to Gabe Vincent, a third-year undrafted free agent averaging 7.7 points per game for his career, was seen as a major blow to the Heat, tells you the thin line this team is walking.
Miami doesn’t have the luxury the Celtics do. The Heat played incredible basketball in the first three games, but that was in large part because Boston had no apparent interest in pushing back. That certainly has changed. When Butler talks about the Heat shutting down because shots weren’t falling, that’s not just because they had a couple of bad nights. The Celtics’ defensive intensity is as high as it has been all season, to the point where they almost look like the defensive-minded team they were last season.
Butler says the Heat just need to play harder. But how much harder can they go? If the Celtics come even close to matching their intensity, we saw what happens in Games 4 and 5.
Maybe the Heat have another gear and getting home to South Beach will help them find it. That still might not matter, though. If the Celtics want this, they’re going to take it. They are the far superior team, and no matter what Butler or anyone says, Games 4 and 5 are proof that these teams are ultimately who we they thought they were, at least when the Celtics want it to be that way.
Not even someone as good and as gutsy as Butler can change that.
