Miami Heat: Three keys to focus on against the Boston Celtics
The Miami Heat have a rematch Wednesday against the Boston Celtics. After a tough loss on Monday to the Celtics, here’s three keys to having a shot to win.
As painful as it is to revisit, the Boston Celtics won a tough game over the Miami Heat on Monday night. Although it wasn’t that close to start, it wound up being a much tighter game in the end.
There were a few issues with the way that the Heat played on Monday night, but the biggest was definitely their awful start. If they want to stand a chance at beating the Celtics in Wednesday’s game, there are a few key things that they should definitely focus on.
The first key has everything to do with how they started their last game on Monday night against this Boston team. Being heavily outscored to start the game, the Heat found themselves in a hole that seemed at times insurmountable. Although they were able to pull within three points of the Celtics in the fourth quarter, that early hole proved to be too much to try to come out of and win that game.
If the Miami Heat hope for better results, they need to get off to a better start to the game. Whether this be due to a script of plays drawn up by coach Erik Spoelstra, or a greater output of energy on the Heat’s behalf, they need to find a way to get a better start than the last game on Monday. This team struggles to score at times, but a great start on defense would be wise as well to keep the Celtics from catching fire as they did during the first period of Monday’s game.
Speaking of defense, that’s a perfect segue to the second key to focus on. If the Heat will continue to rely on the zone as their main defensive ploy, they have to do a better job at protecting the heart of the defense. They gave up too many wide open looks from the middle of the zone.
Whether they were broken down by the ball handler for an open look , beat by the cutter for an open look, or caught sleeping and/or ball watching as a big set up in the middle of the zone, they gave up too many open paint looks. This is something they must key on to have a shot.
Anytime that any team plays the Celtics, the number one priority on any defensive scouting report should be to stop Kyrie Irving. That is the third key, and it may be common sense, but it’s also always worth noting. Kyrie is lethal, can beat you by his self, and hits the shots that ultimately end up crushing your chances.
He put up 25 in Monday nights game, and that was just pretty good for him. If the Heat want to even sniff a shot at winning this game, they must stop Kyrie Irving, or at least limit him.
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No matter which way you go about it, the Miami Heat have a tall task ahead of them in Wednesday’s game. They do have a shot however, and their chances are increased by being home for this one. Needing a win in the worst way to help their playoff chances, they must focus on those three things as well though if they want to maximize their opportunity.