Miami Heat insulted, motivated by Celtics
MIAMI – And, still, the disrespect.
No wonder the Miami Heat have had little trouble finding fuel amid this unexpected playoff run that has them one victory from their second NBA Finals appearance in four years.
This time, in what otherwise might have come off as a benign moment, it came from Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown late Monday night, in the wake of the 128-102 victory that gave the Heat a 3-0 lead in these best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals.
“To their credit,” Brown said downcast but respectfully, “they’re playing well above their means.”
And there, right there, is your bulletin board for Tuesday’s 8:30 p.m. Game 4 at Kaseya Center, this ongoing notion that even after eliminating the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in the first round, taking the best shots from Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks in the second, and then going into Boston and winning twice at TD Garden, the Heat still are part of some sort of imposter syndrome.
“They’re balling right now,” Brown continued. “I’ve got to give them respect, Gabe Vincent, [Caleb] Martin, [Max] Strus, Duncan Robinson, guys that we should be able to keep under control are playing their ass off.”
And that, as much as the “above their means” comment, crystallizes this ascension from seventh place in the Eastern Conference and the No. 8 playoff seed.
Sometimes it’s also about the little engines that could.
Spend time around Erik Spoelstra and his players and it almost is cult-like. To that end, Spoelstra is candid with his ubiquitous Heat axiom of “we’re not for everyone.”
But provide the proper motivation, and the engines roar.
Just by being here, back as the Heat’s opponents for the second consecutive year in the East finals, the Celtics provided the motivation, with the Heat having fallen in Game 7 of the matchup on their home court a year ago.
“I just think that we got the matchup we wanted,” Martin said. “We got to see the team who took us out last year, and there’s nothing like a second crack at it. So I think that we are just trying to take advantage of that, and you know, we are playing like we have something to prove.
“We’re just a bunch of guys with a chip on our shoulder, so we just want to continue to prove that.”
By contrast, almost stunningly in light of the fortitude they showed a year ago in coming into Miami and winning a Game 7, the Celtics are a team with shoulders slumped, the franchise of clover seemingly green with envy.
“Those guys are playing unbelievable right now,” Brown said, the type of platitude rarely offered amid an ongoing series in May.
Where there once was bravado, as in a mere five days earlier at the start of the series, there practically is now concession.
“We’re playing against a great team,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “We’re a great team. Right now, they have a mentality and we don’t, and we have to get that back.
“Usually at our best, we’re connected, we’re together, we’re physical on the defensive end, and we don’t have that right now.”
At the moment, the Heat are simply sucking the spirit from a third consecutive opponent.
Unapologetically.
“For us, it’s not shocking,” center Bam Adebayo said, “because y’all not around, but y’all don’t see the work that a lot of guys put in. And it’s speaking volumes right now in this postseason. So for us, I don’t believe it’s a surprise or a shocker.”
So close last season against the same opponent that the team plane practically was on the tarmac prepared for takeoff to San Francisco and the 2022 NBA Finals against the Warriors, an itinerary that instead went to the Celtics.
A year later, against the same opponent, the fuel this time burns within.
“Being number one in the conference and you lose in the Eastern Conference finals, it does sting,” Adebayo said of last season’s end game. “But I think the grit and the motivation and the aggression that we play with has just been through this up-and-down season.
“You know, that experience has built us for these moments.”
Whether it is playing well above their means or otherwise.
