Getty Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown is guarded by Miami Heat wing Max Strus.
The Miami Heat have a date with the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals once again. This season’s meeting will mark the third in four years between the two sides. The Heat looked on Sunday afternoon, as the Celtics fought for their spot in the Conference Finals in Game 7 against the Philadelphia 76ers.
After his 25 points in the 112-88 win, Jaylen Brown discussed Boston’s upcoming meeting with the Heat.
“Progressing against Miami, they propose different challenges as well,” Brown said via the CLNS Media Boston Sports Network YouTube channel. “We’ve just got to be versatile. We’ve got to have intensity and be aggressive and that’s got to be the tone setter for the whole series.”
Brown was later asked if he has any extra confidence heading into this series, after beating the Heat in the Conference Finals last season.
“Nothing about last year matters,” Brown responded. “I don’t think Miami is thinking about last year, they’re coming out ready to play basketball…We just gotta come out with a great fresh mind and execute what’s in front of us. I think that’s the key. I’m looking forward to it, I think it will be a great challenge, and it should be fun.”
Heat Given 3% Chance to Beat Celtics by ESPN
While Brown’s comments say that he and the Celtics will be taking the Heat seriously, that’s not the case everywhere.
Miami was on the receiving end of some serious disrespect on Monday morning, as ESPN shared some analytics regarding the series.
The network’s Twitter account shared a tweet, showing a graphic of the percent chance each team has to advance to the NBA Finals.
Miami’s chances aren’t looking so hot, according to the worldwide leader.
“The Miami Heat have a 3% chance of reaching the NBA Finals, according to ESPN Analytics,” the tweet read.
The Miami Heat have a 3% chance of reaching the NBA Finals, according to ESPN Analytics 😮
Giving the Heat just a 3% chance to make the NBA Finals is outrageous at this point. They’ve put together an impressive playoff run, even though they entered as the No. 8 seed.
Miami eliminated the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in the first round, winning in just five games. Though Giannis Antetokounmpo missed two-and-a-half games, the performance from the Heat was impressive nonetheless. They mounted back-to-back double-digit comebacks to secure Games 4 & 5.
On top of that, the Heat bounced the No. 4 seeded New York Knicks in six games, the series after. They were pretty dominant throughout, losing just one game where Jimmy Butler played. Their other loss came in Game 2, a game where Butler was out with an ankle injury.
RJ Barrett Praises Heat’s Experience
Speaking of the Knicks, RJ Barrett was sure to praise the Heat, following his team’s elimination. The former No. 3 overall pick told reporters that Miami is a very experienced, very poised team.
“They’re a very good team, very experienced, very poised, so, you know we can learn from that,” Barrett said via the NBA Today YouTube channel.
He was then prompted on playoff experience, now that he’d made second appearance in the postseason.
“You know, it being my second time in the playoffs I was a little more comfortable,” he added. “But, I think experience helps for sure. Just seeing [teams], even looking at the Heat, some of the things that they were able to do during the game, you could just tell it’s from the experience that they had. So, this helped and it was great to go up against a team like that. We still think that we could’ve won but we came up short.”
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Jaylen Brown Speaks Out on Heat Ahead of Conference Finals Rematch