Frankly, I think this Celtics team needed a loss.
Simply put: they're not playing as hard as Miami. The Heat have playoff urgency and play the game right... Boston is kinda lackadaisical out there, going through the motions...
... which is bizarre because the Heat done beat us last season...
78% of people know that most stats are made up.
However, 82% of Philadelphians are aware of this fact... while only 64% on New Yorkers are so informed.
One thing about the Heat... they down 32 in the 4th quarter, and they were still playing hard... playing the game the right way.
Before you know it... the lead is down to 13 or however far they got it down.
Can't casually dismiss Miami... even with Butler out.
And Boston better watch that...
A good (not great) start.
The Celtics got up big... but the danger there is losing urgency, and the C's seemed to get lazy multiple times. That ain't good in the playoffs.
But Boston got a pretty overwhelming talent advantage against the injured Heat... so it didn't bite them... in this one...
Yeah... Butler is no spring chicken, certainly...
... that being said, I still believe that (if he were healthy) Butler is more than capable of 'flipping the switch' and being a determining factor in a playoff series.
Him being out is a catastrophic blow for Miami... Herro is gonna have to...
It's a shame Butler is injured... I'd honestly prefer to play Miami at full strength...
This is a good draw for Boston in R1... Miami has had the better of Boston overall in recent history... the C's need to face Miami and beat them.
Of course... with Butler injured... it loses some of that...
What's interesting (to me) is... sure, the Knicks are down Julius Randle.
But Randle is a very polarizing "star". While he gets numbers... there's a fair argument to be made that he's kind of a losing player overall...
... therefore, being without him can potentially be 'addition by...
Damn... that sucks.
Assuming Miami can sneak by the Bulls... I'd rather face them at full strength... it'd honestly be a great opportunity for the Celtics to exorcise that demon, because Miami has largely gotten the better of us in recent years.