BOSTON — The Celtics have certainly had success in the playoffs over the past few years, but they have been criticized for taking too long to play series. After the Heat's surprising loss in Game 2, where they made a historic number of 3-pointers, it looked like it would happen again.
However, the C's bounced back with three straight wins against their eastern rivals. Not only that, but Team C overwhelmed the Heat with all three wins by landslides. After the Celtics dominated the Heat in Game 5 to win the series, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra pointed out the differences between this season's team compared to past years.
“I have to give Boston credit,” Spoelstra said. “They controlled this game. They felt tonight they wanted to end this right now and not bring this thing back to Miami. That's a sign of a mature team.”
The Heat have been short all series due to injuries, but Spoelstra said he doesn't want to use that as an excuse. He noted how the Celtics have been the best team in the NBA all year, and said that was shown in the five-game series.
Therefore, the Celtics will face either the Magic or the Cavaliers in the second round. Meanwhile, the Heat are planning to overhaul their roster. Injuries certainly played a role, but he didn't have as much success as he did in previous years. Meanwhile, the C team hopes to return to the top of the NBA mountain. Just don't expect Spoelstra to be watching them make the playoffs.
“They played really good basketball and probably had something to motivate us even more,” Spoelstra said. “They played at a high level. I'm not going to watch one minute of their games, but maybe they'll do this against some teams in the future.”
