The Boston Celtics comfortably beat the Miami Heat 114-94 in Game 1 of their first-round series on Sunday. Former Celtic Kendrick Perkins expects more of the same the rest of the way, and he went as far as to make quite the bold claim about this series.
“It really is levels to this. I mean, the Miami Heat could go 100 percent from the field and 100 percent from the 3, and they’re still gonna get swept in this series,” Perkins said on NBA Countdown. “They just don’t have the personnel to match up with the Boston Celtics. That’s it.”
(starts at 4:02 mark):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gJCzDC9Se0
Perkins certainly exaggerated there. If the Heat shoot 100% from the field the rest of the way, not only would they avoid a sweep, but they would also win the series. I mean, even the Detroit Pistons would beat the Celtics if they never missed a shot.
You do get the point Perkins was making there, though. The Heat could play at their absolute best and the chances of a victory against the Celtics would still be slim. If Jimmy Butler was available, they might have been able to pull off an upset in this series, but with him being out for multiple weeks due to an MCL sprain, this is a total mismatch.
In Game 1, the Heat never led and were down by as many as 34 points at one stage in the fourth quarter. If the Celtics had kept their foot on the gas, the Heat might have suffered the worst postseason loss in franchise history based on margin of defeat.
They had lost Game 3 of the 2013 NBA Finals by 36 points to the San Antonio Spurs, and while the Heat went on to win that series, things won’t be panning out that way this time. I think they will avoid a sweep, though. This Celtics team lives and dies by the three, and all it takes is one bad shooting night for the Heat to win a game.
None of the six previous postseason meetings between these teams ended in a sweep either. The Heat currently leads that head-to-head 4-2, but the Celtics will certainly halve that deficit soon enough. This was also their fourth straight win in meetings between these sides, having also won all three regular-season matchups.
Brian Scalabrine Accused The Heat Of Trying To Injure Jayson Tatum
There was a contentious moment right at the end of Game 1, as Caleb Martin crashed into Jayson Tatum when the Celtics had gone up for a rebound. Former Celtic Brian Scalabrine felt the Heat tried to intentionally injure Tatum.
“Erik Spoelstra called a timeout with a 1:30 left down by 16, 30 seconds later that play happens… That looked shady to me.”
At first glance, it did seem like quite a dirty play to me as well. When I watched the replays, though, I saw Jrue Holiday pushing Martin onto Tatum. Now, you could argue that the Heat forward should have tried to avoid contact, but he barely had a second to react. I think it would be a bit harsh to suggest it was intentional, but only Martin would know for sure.
That incident did add some more spice to this series, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we get some more heated moments the rest of the way. I just hope no one ends up getting hurt.
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