Miami Heat: 4 Immediate Eastern Conference Playoff Threats

Erik Spoelstra Head Coach of the Miami Heat looks on during the first half of the game against the Milwaukee Bucks(Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images)
Erik Spoelstra Head Coach of the Miami Heat looks on during the first half of the game against the Milwaukee Bucks(Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images)
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Miami Heat
Boston Celtics forward Grant Williams (12) dishes a pass between Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) and center Dewayne Dedmon (21)(Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports)

Miami Heat: 4 Immediate Eastern Conference Playoff Threats- Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics looked to not be a threat at the start of this year. They were inconsistent from quarter to quarter and didn’t look like they were going to get things together.

Boston

Since the new year, they’ve been a new team and all with a record of 22-8. They’ve found identity in their defense and found clever ways to use Rob Williams.

The Celtics stars, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, are scorers. That’s what they do, but now the rest of the team is fitting in well around them.

Tatum has gone to another level in both scoring and decision-making recently. The Heat will need to find ways to score against this team.

Making use of Oladipo and Herro off the bench will be imperative. In a series like this, the defense on both sides will be crucial to deciding the series.

Those are the four main threats to Miami’s success as this season winds down. Cleveland and Chicago are honorable mentions but neither have enough threats or experience to be considered real threats.

This year, expect more game sevens and high-level basketball from the East than we’ve seen in a long time. Either way it goes, it should be an awesome display of NBA basketball.