Why Jayson Tatum Wanted Celtics To Play Heat In First Round

After back-to-back seasons featuring grueling seven-game playoff series against the Heat, the Celtics might have wanted to avoid the reigning Eastern Conference champions at all costs in the 2024 postseason.

Jayson Tatum, however, didn’t want to duck Miami. In fact, Boston’s franchise cornerstone wanted to go toe-to-toe with Erik Spoelstra’s side right away.

Tatum got his wish when the Heat claimed the Eastern Conference’s eighth seed in the NBA play-in tournament. The rivals appeared bound for a vintage playoff duel when Miami stole Game 2 at TD Garden, but the C’s responded by ripping off three straight wins with an average margin of victory of 22 points. The most lopsided contest of the series was the last one, which saw Tatum and company trounce the Heat by 34 points on Causeway Street.

After Boston punched its ticket to Round 2, Tatum explained why he wanted his team to start its playoff journey with Miami.

“I wanted to play Miami in the sense that, maybe last year, playing against Atlanta, we might’ve relaxed a little bit,” Tatum told reporters, per MassLive. “But knowing the history of Miami and how hard they play and how well-coached they are, for a first-round matchup — regardless of the seed — we were going to have to be ready to play, ready to fight.”

The Celtics, after two straight deep postseason runs, know how much it takes to be one of the last teams standing. It was why Jaylen Brown already was thinking about ways Boston could improve immediately after it dismantled Miami in its first close-out game of the spring.

And if the Celtics keep finding those higher gears, they’ll welcome any playoff opponent just like they fully embraced the Heat series.