Why Boston Celtics’ Stevens brought up Golden State Warriors in assessing Miami Heat
It’s common for opposing coaches to heap lavish praise on the other team before a playoff series.
But on the eve of the start of the Eastern Conference Finals, Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens raised eyebrows on Monday when he mentioned a Heat similarity to the Golden State dynasty that won three championships in five years before plunging into the lottery this year after injuries to Steph Curry and Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant’s departure to Brooklyn.
“This is probably the closest team in the East that we’ve seen to the Warriors with regard to their cutting and shooting,” Stevens said. “They’re one of the best cutting teams I’ve seen.”
Stevens offered that assessment after being asked about how to defend Duncan Robinson and Tyler Herro, two Heat players who move particularly well without the ball.
“You’ve got to guard them as hard as you can,” Stevens said. “If you’re late, then the [defending] team gets flustered. They start scrambling and you give up layups. You can’t give up layups, you can’t give up open threes, you can’t foul. They’re excellent cutters. They’re physical cutters.”
Stevens was just getting started.
“There are so many different ways they can hurt you,” he said. “Miami can beat you in isolation. Obviously great from behind the three-point line. They got a number of guys who can go for 25 or 30 in a given game. Super organized. When they sense a weakness, they’re going to pick on it.
“They’re an excellent offense. I just can’t tell you how exceptionally well-coached they are. Everybody knows that. Everything they run [offensively] has a purpose. Everything they run has a direct line to the strengths of their players. We’ll do our best to keep guys off the foul line. They got fouled on a ton of jump shots in the last series. But it’s easier said than done.”
Celtics forward Jayson Tatum said of the Heat: “They never stop moving, so you never can relax or let your guard down. You just got to stay locked in the whole possession.”
HAYWARD UPDATE
Forward Gordon Hayward, who has missed the Celtics’ past 10 games with an ankle sprain, was ruled out for Game 1.
“He didn’t go through our normal practice,” Stevens said. “He went through a [hard small-group workout] after practice. He looked good when he was going through it. But there’s a big difference between doing that and actually getting into a game. I don’t know officially what means as we move forward. But he’s getting better.”
Hayward averaged 17.5 points in 52 regular-season games, all starts. He missed Boston’s first game against Miami this season but scored 29 and 15 in the next two matchups with the Heat.
▪ Though Celtics guard Kemba Walker has never played for Erik Spoelstra, he mentioned Monday how “I’ve had a chance to spend some time with coach Spoelstra, get to know him a little bit. He’s a great person. They have a great, great head coach.”
▪ Heat rookie guard Kendrick Nunn said he feels “great” entering the East finals after a slow start when the season resumed.
Nunn had to overcome a COVID-19 diagnosis in the weeks leading up the restart and then was forced to exit the Disney bubble for a few days because of personal reasons.
Nunn, who started in each of his 67 regular-season appearances, has been moved to a bench role in the playoffs. He averaged 3.8 points on 32.1 percent shooting in 13.3 minutes, and played in all five games of Miami’s second-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks.
“Had a lot of time off, so I’m stacking positive days on top of another during this stretch,” Nunn said Monday. “I feel great right now, a great rhythm, so I’m ready to play.”
▪ Heat center Kelly Olynyk said he sometimes wonders what would have been if the Celtics would have kept the core together that advanced to the East finals in 2016-17. Olynyk was on that Boston roster before signing with the Heat as a free agent that offseason.
“There’s always the, ‘If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.’ But everybody’s just doing their job,” Olynyk said. “Obviously Danny Ainge is doing his job. Sometimes it’s tough, that you’re trying to get better every single year. And it’s also a business. Money goes into it, salary cap, all that kind of stuff. So it’s different. Obviously, we had a great team, who really played together, played with each other. We had a good run there. Obviously it would have been cool to see what we could have done the following year, the next year, but sometimes life doesn’t happen.”
▪ ESPN assigned Mark Jones and Doris Burke to Game 1 of Heat-Celtics at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. Burke becomes the first woman to ever call a conference finals game on television. Lead announcing team Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson instead will work Game 7 of the Clippers-Denver series at 9 p.m., and then switch over to the Heat series for the duration of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Meanwhile, the NBA and ESPN scheduled Game 2 for 7 p.m. Thursday to give it an 80-minute head start on the Bengals-Browns game on NFL Network.
This story was originally published September 14, 2020 at 5:14 PM.
